http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/02/24/robert-swift-seattle-supersonics-foreclosure-eviction/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmaing7%7Cdl41%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D276008A former NBA star whose career on the basketball court ended pretty quickly won't play ball with the new owner of his foreclosed home in Seattle. Now Robert Swift could be forcibly evicted from his once-pristine $1 million home, KOMO News in Seattle reported. Swift, who was drafted straight out of high school to the Seattle SuperSonics in 2004, bought the home in 2006, according to the Associated Press. But it fell into foreclosure last July. A new owner bought the foreclosed home in January for half the original price, but Swift is reportedly still living there and refuses to leave.
Swift went on to play short stints with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Tokyo Apache. But after a string of injuries and a less-than-impressive run on the court, his career fizzled. KOMO News said Swift earned about $20 million during his career, but Basketball-Reference.com puts that number lower, at about $11.5 million. That's still enough to afford his home, yet Swift lost it. Now the new owner, who did not want to be identified, is asking a court to remove Swift from the home if he doesn't leave soon.
"It seems like a very sad story, and I definitely feel for him," the owner told KOMO News. But "before we can do anything to the property, I need him out of there." And the property needs a lot of work. Since Swift bought the home, it has become a wreck. Today, there are beer cans strewn all over the yard, buckets of stagnant water, a bullet hole in the garage-door window, boarded-up windows and cars sitting in the driveway that "don't look like they've moved in a long time," the new owner said. There's also an array of interesting signs posted to the home and cars in the driveway, one of which says "Danger Men Drinking."
Gallery: See the Trashed Home Robert Swift Refuses to Leave
The home's new owner has gone to court to have Swift removed from the property, and court records show that he is now past a grace period to leave. He has a final deadline to vacate the premises by the end of the month -- and after that, he could be forcibly removed, KOMO News reported. "He will have to respond to the sheriff, I'm sure," the new owner said.
This is a pretty sad case of an ex-NBA star who once held such promise but now has found himself in trouble. It reminds us of another very recent case of a former basketball star falling into the mayhem of foreclosure. Ex-NBA star Allen Iverson's Atlanta home is up for auction after he lost it to foreclosure. It's an unbelievable luxe mansion that you'd never expect to see on the foreclosure market. Check it out here.
