Tim Duncan says he lost more than $20 million, allegedly stolen by financial advisor

Back in January, we told you Tim Duncan was suing a former financial advisor over some dealings that cost Duncan money.

Now we find out how much — more than $20 million, Duncan told Bloomberg News (hat tip Eye on Basketball).

Ouch. Bloomberg asked if that was going to impact Duncan’s decision to return to the NBA next season, something not yet officially decided or announced. He’s fortunate enough to be able to laugh that idea off.

“Luckily I had a long career and made good money,” the 39-year-old Duncan, who has been paid about $220 million over his career, including about $10 million this past season, said in a telephone interview. “This is a big chunk, but it’s not going to change my life in any way. It’s not going to make any decisions for me.”

Good for Duncan that dropping more than $20 million isn’t going to change his lifestyle, because he was smart with the rest of his money. The financial issue came to light during an auditing of Duncan’s financials as part of his recent divorce and allegedly took place over an eight-year span starting in 2005.

The advisor, Charles Banks, has denied the claims in the lawsuit, saying this is just Duncan trying to use the suit as leverage to get out of some investments. Ultimately a judge will get to decide the case.

That still leaves the question: Is Duncan coming back? Duncan, of course, isn’t talking about it, but the buzz around the league is that the Spurs expect him back for one more year. There are rumors that he started his workout training again — you wouldn’t do that in June just to get your body ready for swimsuit season, it would be about coming back. But with Duncan, until it is official, we will wait (he would make the announcement before July 1 so if he retires the Spurs could use his cap space to chase free agents).