Right, I wasn't thinking you meant Snell. Should he have taken the $150 million? In hindsight, absolutely. He gambled, he lost. He is still insanely rich. There are richer people than him by far but he was going to live comfortably for the rest of his life even before he settled for "only" $60 million. As I said, I think that's why some of these guys are more willing to do the gamble. Not all of them do. It's like playing Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. At some point in the game there's enough of a safety net where going for it isn't as harmful even if you lose. I'm not saying I'd do the same thing in his shoes but I see why there's always a handful of guys that choose to play this game of chicken with the rich teams every off season.
I do think, anecdotally anyway, that pro players are more cognizant about how to save and invest their money now days than they used to be maybe even as little as 10 to 15 years ago. There are a LOT of really rich guys playing baseball, basketball, football etc. Chances are pretty decent that guys will talk to their teammates about how to be smart with their money. I specifically remember Pat Connaughton and Giannis saying they talked about investing strategies with each other. I'd also assume that the unions have more resources for the players too. I remember hearing news reports about young pros not having the first clue about what to do with their money going back 10 years ago or so and I feel like that has become more of a focus in the major sports now to take care of these guys. Doesn't mean people won't make bad decisions.
As for the lower dollar earners in professional sports I'd hope those people would be smarter with their money knowing that for some, similar to career minor league baseball players, their sport isn't as likely to make them enough money to retire on and they'll need "real" jobs someday. Some of them might have gotten decent signing bonuses when they were drafted but I'd really hesitate to even call them "rich" in the first place. I guess I'd still say it's hard for me to simply assume that over half actually go broke, they simply transition into regular jobs once their careers end.