At least 60 athletes who played on Washington, D.C. and Baltimore-area professional sports teams over the last decade also established nonprofit organizations, a Povich Center analysis of tax filings found.
The list included Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, a two-time NFL MVP; NBA All-Star Russell Westbrook, who spent a season with the Washington Wizards; Elena Della Donne, who finished her WNBA career with the Washington Mystics; as well as members of the Washington Nationals, Washington Commanders and the Baltimore Orioles. It also included 23-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Michael Phelps.
Most of the nonprofits operated by the players were small, the analysis found, with two-thirds showing net assets of less than $100,000 on their most recent publicly available tax form. Just two players had nonprofits with more than $1 million in net assets in their most recent filing year, including Anthony Rendon, who won a World Series with the Washington Nationals. Olympic champion Michael Phelps also heads a charity with net assets exceeding $1 million.
Nearly every athlete listed themselves as an executive of their organization, and most gave executive leadership positions to at least one member of their family, the analysis showed.