When you hear about NBA players and gambling, it’s usually not anything positive. Stories about the extravagance of Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley as they blew millions at the Vegas casinos don’t exactly paint the stars in a favorable light. But at least they fared better than Antoine Walker, who is millions of dollars in debt and facing various charges due to his unwise gambling practices, unwise business ventures, allegedly committing fraud and more. That’s why I wanted to share this story about Shawn Marion’s poker tournament, because it’s something positive for the NBA and gambling.

For those who don’t know Shawn Marion, he’s a forward who is currently with the Dallas Mavericks but has spent most of his time with the Phoenix Suns. He is known for being as extraordinary on offense as he is terrible on defense. It seems that he also loves playing poker and giving to charity, which made hosting a celebrity poker tournament a no-brainer.

On August 14, the Shawn Marion Celebrity Poker Tournament was held at the Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant, Oklahoma. At the tournament, players raised nearly $70,000 for the Shawn Marion Foundation. The poker tournament has a Texas no-limit hold’em game that drew 181 poker players from around the nation. Aside from Marion, the only “celebrities” I can count in attendance are Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and two poker players who have starred in the reality TV show Amazing Race, Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle. Professional poker players Annie Duke and T.J. Cloutier were also in attendance.

Even without a lot of big-name celebrities, the poker tournament was still a success. Though the charity was the main attraction, the top players in the tournament still won prizes. The guy who won it all took a seat in the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event. By the way, his name is James Dean, but I don’t think he’s related to the actor or the sausage guy. The poker player who came in second won an all-expenses paid strip to Hawai’i. The third-place finisher won a seat in the T.J. Cloutier/Choctaw Poker Classic. The player who finished fourth won a nice watch and the fifth-place finisher won two tickets to a Mavericks game and dinner with Shawn Marion. All of those prizes were donated by sponsors.

The Shawn Marion Foundation is dedicated to helping single-parent families and providing life-changing opportunities for the children. That is accomplished by providing grants and scholarships to the children, among other things.

During his prime, ex-NBA player Antoine Walker was good at three things: shooting the three, firing the trifecta, and hoisting a trey. Yes, I’m aware that all three are the same thing. I’m saying that he was only good at camping out behind the three-point line and hitting open shots. There were many things that Walker was not good at, with the biggest being managing his money.

It seems that Walker should have hired an accountant, money manager or anybody to take care of his finances for him instead of doing it on his own. Over 13 seasons in the NBA – most of them with the Boston Celtics – Walker made $110 million. Now all of it is gone and Walker is in trouble.

It seems that in 2009, despite not actually having any money, Walker kept writing checks to casinos for loans. Upon losing the money on the floor, the casino wasn’t able to recoup the money because there was no money to cover the bad checks. It is alleged that he wrote approximately $1.2 million in bad checks to casinos in Indiana and Las Vegas. Walker then negotiated a settlement with the casinos and has so far paid off approximately $135,000 of his debt.

Walker was also indicted for felony check fraud. Today, Walker’s attorney met before a Las Vegas judge, who gave Walker a June 14 court date for the criminal charges. If convicted, Walker could face up to 12 years in prison. Last week, Walker – facing foreclosure on a $2.3 million Chicago mansion – filed for bankruptcy. In the bankruptcy hearing, the claim states that Walker has $4.2 million in assets and $12.7 in liabilities. By my math, that means Walker is $8.5 million in the red.

Even in these dire straits, Walker is spending a lot of money. According to Walker, he spends $1000 on clothes, $1000 on recreation, $1000 on transportation (that does not include car payments), $1200 on housekeeping and $1000 in training every month. Maybe it’s just me, but if he’s $8.5 million in the hole, maybe he should wear the clothes he already has, entertain himself with cheaper activities and clean his own house. In fact, if he moved out of his Miami mansion and into a smaller house, it would be easier to clean.

Walker is requesting that he be allowed to retain his $2.3 million Miami home, his $54000 Range Rover and $2000 in cash. As for his plan on how to pay the money back? He seems to be going the Michael Vick route there. It seems that his strategy is to rejoin the NBA.

Walker was once a star with the Celtics, but he soon became replaceable when it was learned that someone who plays defense, will pass on occasion, and will occasionally drive to the basket can be more helpful than a spot-up shooter who does nothing else. Walker then became a bench player with the Miami Heat, where he won a championship, and then washed out of the league after the 2008 season. So now he wants to rejoin the NBA? Does anybody need a selfish jump shooter who won’t pass or play defense?