At some point in most of our lives, we’ve all imagined how nice it would be to get away from the daily grind on our own tropical island. NBA journeyman and current Houston Rockets forward Reggie Bullock has taken steps to implement that plan. Earlier this year, Bullock purchased his own island in Belize after discovering the land via YouTube. Bullock plans to make this a business venture, but it’s wild to think how far the sport has progressed to where reserve players are buying their own islands.
Not that long ago, if you’d heard a basketball player bought a tropical island, most people would automatically think of names like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, or some other superstar player making $30-40 million annually. That’s the plot twist in the story — that it isn’t one of the NBA’s household names heading this venture.
“I found Belize off YouTube,” Bullock said on Cam Newton’s Funky Friday podcast. “When you getting funds from our profession and what we doing, it’s like, ‘What I’m going to do with it?’ And one of my main things, it was just more about generational wealth for me. It was a project that I felt like I should jump on, and it’s never really been done before. But I was all up for the challenge for it.”
By normal standards, most NBA players do well in the income department. Bullock is no exception, but he’s never been in the same ballpark as any of the athletes above. Obviously, he’s done right by his earnings, and it’s good to see a player go in the right direction rather than what we’ve seen from so many others before him. It also highlights how wild it is that a career role player can pull this off.
Players no longer need to reach megastar status to achieve the finer things in life, like buying a private island. Just make it to the association and be good enough to play for a decade and you’re golden. NBA contracts, as a whole, have come a long way. Twenty years ago, you could only fathom the top 10-20 guys in the league making this kind of purchase. The NBA is in a very good spot, and it only seems to be improving each year.
“I saw the property and I was like, ‘Okay, this is it.’ You know what I’m saying? I know what I can do with this,” Bullock explained. “I mean, all the islands around there are doing some of the same things, and I’m going to go spend my money every time on a vacation spot for my family. So, why can’t I have a space for me to be able to rent out and enjoy it with family.”
Bullock has plans to build a mansion, vacation resort for guests, and other establishments in the future. Although his NBA earnings have been a great starter kit for building generation wealth, that is the primary reason for Bullock buying this island in paradise. The man is putting his money to work for him in hopes of making much more for future generations. Bullock is living the NBA slogan of the 90s because this all sounds fantastic.