NBA Rookie Blows $10K on Lottery Tickets

Washington Wizards rookie Chris Singleton says it was worth it to buy $10,000 worth of tickets for last week's Mega Millions lottery, adding it was "either that or blowing it in the clubs."

Singleton raised eyebrows last week when he tweeted: "I'm about to drop 10000 on the lottery and cross my fingers."

He later told his followers on Twitter that he was making an “investment” and added, “If I get richer, I will change the world for the better,” writes the Washington Post's Michael Lee.

He maintains he actually did spend the $10,000 for the lottery that offered a $640 million prize. He says he bought the tickets at various locations because no individual outlet would have been able to print that many at once.

And although he didn’t hit the jackpot, he did win something; he's just not sure how much because he hasn't gone through all of his tickets yet.

“Appreciate all the tweets past 3-4 days lol I did win some money for the ppl wondering but not the 650 million I was hoping. #megamillions,” Singleton tweeted.

But could this be a PR nightmare for Singleton and the Wizards? Think about it: this is probably the last thing the Wizards management wants to hear from a rookie earning $1.485 million this season. Furthermore, this is the type of stuff that a) fans who are working-class stiffs hate reading about and b) could come back to haunt celebrities later in life.

“If (God forbid) Chris Singleton winds up destitute after his playing days are over, the first thing reporters, bloggers and anyone else looking to talk about his fate will find is a story that as a rookie making $1.485 million, he was actually dropping $10,000 on lottery tickets, and then also cracking jokes about dropping $10,000 at nightclubs,” writes Dan Devine for Yahoo! Sports.

“It wasn't the most awful thing in the history of the world or anything; it was just kind of dumb,” he adds.

Of course, as multiple news outlets have pointed out, the whole thing could have been done as a publicity stunt. If that's the case, and even the relatively sports-averse Blaze was interested in this story, then it worked. It worked like a charm.

“MegaMillions tweet blessing in disguise,” the rookie wrote on Twitter. “How many ppl say they were on GOODMORNING AMERICA for 2 days in row....If you watched TV, you saw or heard about my tweet.”

"For a boring (on the court, at least) 12-41 team among the league's five-worst in both offensive and defensive efficiency, one that's headed for its fourth straight way sub-.500 finish, any pixels are good pixels, right?" Devine writes.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.