Former Los Angeles Lakers forward Trevor Ariza is pleading with a California judge to lower his child support payments, as he cannot maintain his current lifestyle.
Meanwhile, Ariza’s soon-to-be-ex-wife demands he sells off assets in order to ensure she maintains the luxuries he once provided.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline, Ariza listed out his various monthly financial commitments and is looking to reduce them.
“I am in the process of reducing my monthly expenses as I am now unemployed & cannot maintain my former lifestyle,” Ariza wrote in his declaration.
Ariza And Estranged Wife Going Through Ugly Divorce
Ariza played 18 seasons in the NBA and earned approximately $116.8 million in his career. That sounds like a lot until you consider taxes and agent fees cut that in half and then whatever lifestyle you live eats into the rest.
The 2009 NBA champion with the Lakers no longer receives a monthly income since retiring from the league in 2022.
Additionally, he’s going through an ugly divorce with estranged wife Bree Anderson, who filed a restraining order on the former NBA baller earlier this year. As a condition of the order Ariza turned over two Glocks and two AR-15s.
Ariza allegedly “engaged in acts of extreme physical abuse,” according to court documents obtained by Radar.
“He was verbally and emotionally abusive to me. Some of the abuse occurred in the presence of our children. I have been financially dependent on Trevor throughout our marriage.”
How Much Is Ariza Paying His Estranged Wife Bree Anderson?
Anderson is asking a judge to force Ariza to help her maintain the same quality of life she once had when things were better between the two.
In addition to requesting Ariza pay her $250k attorney fees, she wants to keep the private chefs, household staff, Rolls Royce vehicles, among other luxuries. Anderson wants the judge to order Ariza to sell off assets if it comes down to it in order to pay support.
On the other hand, the former Lakers star alleges he’s paid $205k in bills for Anderson, including another $172k on properties and cars used exclusively by his estranged wife, according to Radar. Between October 2022 to December 2022, he claims he also gave her $131K.
Where Does All The Money Ariza Made Go?
Anderson believes Ariza is saying he doesn’t have any income so he could get out of paying adequate child support for their two children.
According to his filing, Ariza claims he draws an average of $4k from rental income but there is not much else. He also reported that he received a $418k lump sum from the NBA which was a non-recurring payment.
Ariza’s reported expenses include: $13k in child support for other children, $13k for his mortgage, $1,400 in maintenance, $8,900 for child care, $1,500 on groceries, $3,000 on eating out, $800 on laundry, $3,500 on clothes, $3,200 on his kid’s education, $14k on various cars and $19k on other.
That’s an $81,300 nut per month. But what’s this ambiguous “other” all about?
The “other” includes $4k in salary to his personal assistant, $5,700 for basketball training for his kids. You played in the NBA, you can train your kids yourself. Just a thought. $400 on massages, $500 on boxing classes, $900 on manicures/pedicures, $2,500 to his girlfriend.
Ariza pays his current girlfriend $2500 per month, while he’s going through a divorce? This sounds like bad financial planning.
Maybe this is just Ariza doing some “accounting” to hide assets and avoid “losing” to Anderson. But in that scenario it’s his kids who are getting hurt.
Or, maybe he is short on cash. If so, might be time to start liquidating some assets and downsizing a bit. Many people do it.
Either way this whole situation is a bad look for Ariza and the people most vulnerable in this entire ordeal are the ones who didn’t ask to be there, the kids.
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