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Tim Duncan Says He Lost $20 Million Due to a Shady Financial Adviser

Five-time NBA champion says loss won't affect decision to play next season.

Tim Duncan could use someone like a Spencer Strassmore in his life right now.

Imagine trusting someone to manage your money...only to lose upward of $20 million.

That's Duncan's reality right now. In an interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday, the five-time NBA champion spoke about trusting a financial advisor with his money and getting burned for it.

“I trusted someone to do a job that I hired them to do and they misused my trust and went astray and started using my money,” Duncan said.

Duncan's former financial adviser, Charles Banks, contends that the $20 mllion-plus in losses from 2005-2013 derived from a misunderstanding or impatiently wanting out of certain investments. But Duncan feels like that's not correct at all.

“I want people to understand that the statements he made are absolutely incorrect, that he’s just trying to make himself look good and save his own image when there’s nothing there to save,” said Duncan, who only discovered the losses as part of his divorce proceedings.

All the while, Duncan thought he was on top of his finances.

"I thought, for the most part, I was keeping an eye on things. You have to have people checking on people checking on people. I did that for a while. Obviously, I got to a point where the people I trusted were checking on themselves," Duncan continued. "The bottom line is this: You can’t be angry at yourself. I keep going back to this word, but I trusted someone. I was wrong about it. I got screwed over for it. I’m not mad at myself for that. That’s a lesson learned. I’ll never put myself in that situation again."

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Despite the huge loss, Duncan has been paid roughly $220 million over the course of his 17-year career, including nearly $10 million for this past 2014-15 season.

"Luckily I had a long career and made good money," said Duncan, 39. “This is a big chunk, but it’s not going to change my life in any way. It’s not going to make any decisions for me.”

Those decisions include whether or not the 15-time All-Star and Hall of Fame-bound power forward will return to the San Antonio Spurs for the 2015-16 NBA season. Duncan has yet to decide.

He will turn 40 next April. 

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(Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

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