In addition to having a lot of free time, being a professional basketball player is a pretty good job about money. Essential members of their team (they will be quickly cut and replaced by a compatriot if they are not very productive or below the expectations placed in them), American athletes generally have consequently the highest salaries of the championships in which they evolve. Unlike the NBA, European teams pay for a lot of things such as accommodation and renting or lending a car to their players to avoid ancillary expenses. So, athletes playing overseas can easily save the vast majority of their monthly income. They therefore have a strong ability to save but mostly to invest their money.
Moreover, even if this is not the case for all, most players are single and make the trip alone across the Atlantic. In case they are in a relationship or have a family, it is possible that their wife and children join them once their visa is obtained. But it is not systematic.
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