Money Moves: JPMorganChase Taps Dwyane Wade, A’ja Wilson, Jalen Brunson And More To Help Athletes Take Control of Their Finances
An NBA Hall of Famer, your favorite Peloton instructor and the most decorated player in WNBA history all walk into a bar. Okay, not exactly… but Dwyane Wade, Ally Love […] The post Money Moves: JPMorganChase Taps Dwyane Wade, A’ja Wilson, Jalen Brunson And More To Help Athletes Take Control of Their Finances appeared first on Essence.
Black News 
By Kimberly Wilson ·Updated March 18, 2026 < /> Getting your Trinity Audio player ready… An NBA Hall of Famer, your favorite Peloton instructor and the most decorated player in WNBA history all walk into a bar.
Okay, not exactly… but Dwyane Wade, Ally Love and A’ja Wilson have teamed up, alongside six other sports icons, for something much more exciting than a night out at the bar.
On March 18, JPMorganChase launched its Athlete Council, a new initiative pairing nine of the most recognizable names in sports with the firm’s banking and wealth management expertise to tackle something the sports world has largely avoided: what athletes actually do with their money, and what happens when the career ends before they’re ready.
The full council includes Wade, Love, Wilson, as well as Tom Brady, Megan Rapinoe, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Alex Morgan, Jalen Brunson and Sue Bird.
And the need is more than clear. Just look at what’s played out publicly with everyone from Mike Tyson to Allen Iverson. Most professional athletes are retired before they turn 35, and the majority never saw a professional contract coming in the first place. Fewer than 2% of college athletes ever make it to that level. What happens to the rest of them, and even to the ones who do make it, when their career ends and nobody prepares them for what’s next. Nobody teaches you that part in practice. The sport consumes everything, and by the time the money arrives, most athletes are figuring out the financial side completely on their own, often for the first time.
Wade, who is chairing the council, isn’t just lending his name to it. “Athletes face unique challenges and opportunities. Having the right educational resources and guidance is critical to making smart decisions about money as your career evolves,” he said. “The Council gives us the opportunity to share our experience and insights to help athletes build their financial knowledge and plan beyond their playing careers.”
Kristin Lemkau, CEO of J.P. Morgan Wealth Management, spoke to the broader vision, “Careers can be short and retirement unexpected. We want to develop a program by athletes for athletes to help them from college to professional sports to retirement. Every athlete on this Council has been deeply committed to paying it forward.”
Beyond the council, JPMorganChase is launching an Athlete Center of Excellence, bringing financial education directly to college campuses and major sports events, and offering resources at jpmorgan.com/ace tailored to each phase of an athletic career.
“Our goal is to truly empower the athletes of today and tomorrow with financial literacy throughout their career,” said Stevie Baron, Head of Private Client Banking at JPMorganChase.
Most athletes spend their entire lives chasing the career. Very few of them have someone in their corner helping them figure out what to do once they actually get there, and what to do when it ends. That’s the work this council is signing up for, and with this particular group of people behind it, it signals a real shift in how the industry is thinking about athlete wealth.
For more information, visit jpmorgan.com/athletescouncil.
The post Money Moves: JPMorganChase Taps Dwyane Wade, A’ja Wilson, Jalen Brunson And More To Help Athletes Take Control of Their Finances appeared first on Essence.
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