re: Jamal Lewis files for bankruptcy, is $10.5 million in debt

It's not a crutch. It's an explanation of why he doesn't know how to manage money.

And the people closest to him for his entire life ARE poor and many of them didn't have his best interests in mind when they were asking him for shite.

Again, look at the overall pattern here: poor people get a shite ton of money, and they burn through it extremely quickly. People from a more financially stable background DON'T do that. We learned how to save and invest from our parents and others around us. Lewis and people like him don't get that concept because they've never had the means to do so. Additionally, he (and other like him) clearly doesn't understand what a good investment is. How often do you hear of athletes investing in stupid shite that their friends convince them to throw their money at? How many of those guys were athletes who came from middle class or higher backgrounds? Not often.

You don't hear stories about guys like Grant Hill going broke because of how they were brought up.

So no, it's not an excuse. It's an explanation. It's why there needs to be more than just the rookie symposium. It's why coaches and other mentor figures need to impress certain values on these guys at younger ages, so that they can break the cycle.