Latest news with #JasonRichardson
Yahoo
25-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Locked out of wealth: The racial divide in home equity
As a Bankrate senior writer, I spend a lot of time diving into all things home equity. And lately, there's been a lot to focus on. In the fourth quarter of 2024, homeowner equity averaged an eye-popping $35 trillion, courtesy of a 60 percent increase in home values since 2019, according to Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS). That adds up to approximately $400,000 per homeowner, among the highest equity levels we've ever seen. On the surface, it sounds like a win. But not everyone is experiencing the historic growth in home equity – in particular, homeowners of color. 'Only a small portion of Black adults have any home equity and, among those who do, the equity is generally lower because their homes are valued less,' says Jason Richardson, senior director of research at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC). What's more, Black homeowners also have a harder time borrowing against their equity stake, with loan denials double those of white homeowners, Federal Reserve Bank research has found. Why is there a racial divide in accumulating and accessing home equity, and why does it persist? Inequality in accumulating home equity Home equity – your home's worth, minus its outstanding mortgage – is more than just a number on paper. It can be the difference between affording college tuition, making vital renovations, starting a business, or weathering a crisis. But to build equity, you first need to own a home. While 2023 (the latest year data is available) was a banner year for the growth in Hispanic and Black homeownership, a persistent and significant divide still exists between Black and white households and their equity stakes.'There's about a 25-percentage-point gap that has remained unchanged for roughly 120 years,' Richardson says. The disparity starts from day one of homeownership. Larger down payments – the amount paid out-of-pocket for a purchase – boost a buyer's equity stake. In 2023, when the average white homebuyer bought a home worth over $450,000, they gained over $130,000 in equity at closing (reflecting the amount of cash they put up), according to NCRC research. Compare that to about $86,000 for Hispanics and only $69,000 for Blacks. Some Black and Hispanic families struggle to manage even the minimum down payment of 3-3.5 percent. Today's record-high home prices have created 'a substantial growth in the need to access assistance for first-time homebuyers,' says Alexander Hermann, senior research associate at JCHS. However, some first-timers have resources others don't. 'More often than not, white households have access to 'the bank of mom and dad' in the way that Black and Hispanic households don't necessarily have.' Persistent income and wealth gaps Before the pandemic, Black and Hispanic households made meaningful strides when it came to building wealth, recording faster growth than white households. But 'despite those faster gains, Black and Hispanic families started with less,' notes Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of real estate research at the National Association of Realtors. 'It's like two runners in a race. Even if one is running faster, they can still fall further behind if they start further back.' And, in the last few years, they have been. Between 2019 and 2022, while wage and salary income grew significantly for white families, it stayed almost flat for Black and Hispanic ones. By 2022, the typical white household had approximately $285,000 in overall wealth, more than four times that of Hispanic households ($61,600) and more than six times that of Black households ($44,900). This disparity is especially troubling given that it now takes a six-figure salary — nearly $117,000 — to afford a typical single-family home today, 50 percent higher than only five years ago, Bankrate's 2025 Housing Affordability Study has found. Not only are wages stagnant and home prices elevated, but persistently high mortgage rates have priced many Black and Hispanic families out of the market: 'It's clear that few of them can afford to buy a median-priced home,' says Evangelou. And if homeownership is out of reach, so, of course, is the ability to build home equity. Discrimination and loan denials Economic factors aren't the only barriers blocking people of color from building and benefitting from homeownership – bias and prejudice play a part too. Although practices like redlining are now illegal, their impact persists in more subtle, yet still damaging, ways. 'We've done numerous paired tests, where two potential homebuyers are sent to a lender to ask for information,' says Richardson. 'It's very common for the white applicant to be invited into the loan officer's office and given all the information they want. The same lending office will refer a Black or Hispanic borrower to their website. This is an example of the lender discouraging the applicant from even putting in an application.' When applicants of color do apply, they're more likely to be denied, even when they have similar credit scores, income, and are applying for the same type of loan. According to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, the reasons lenders give for denials, like employment history or credit history, don't fully account for the racial gap. 'Mortgage denials are just one part of the application process,' says Richardson. 'Loans are either approved, denied, or become what's called 'fallout,' which means the loan doesn't close for some other reason.' Even if they've built a good stake, accessing their hard-earned home equity isn't any easier for some homeowners. Between 2018 and 2021, Black applicants were denied home equity line of credit (HELOC) at a rate of 62 percent, almost double that of white homeowners (32 percent), according to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Hispanic homeowners also experienced significantly higher denial rates. In the four-year period, Black and Hispanic homeowners missed out on the ability to cash out a total of more than $4 billion in locked-up equity from HELOCs, home equity loans and cash-out refinances. 'Home equity lending is dominated by banks and credit unions, which tend to be much more conservative lenders anyway,' says Richardson. 'It's not unusual to see home equity loan denial rates over 50 percent.' Home equity lending rates With interest rates currently around 8.25%, home equity loans and HELOCs tend to be far less costly ways to borrow than personal loans or credit cards. Inaccurate home appraisals Accurately valuing your home is a key part of determining how much equity you possess – and how much you can borrow. Unfortunately, there's a racial gap in home appraisals. Recent research from Washington University's Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy has shown that homes in white neighborhoods are appraised at double the value of homes in communities of color, even when the homes are similar and have comparable amenities. 'When homes are systematically undervalued, families have less equity to build wealth, pass to future generations, or leverage for economic opportunities,' says Richardson. 'This creates a cycle where historical discrimination leads to current disparities, which then limit future wealth-building opportunities through homeownership.' Conversely, overvaluations of homes are also a real occurrence in majority-Black neighborhoods, according to a report from the Brookings Institution – which can fuel unrealistic jumps in property prices and lead to a crash later on, potentially putting homeowners into negative equity. All told, '10 percent appraisals in majority-Black neighborhoods are valued on the wrong side of the contract price, compared to what would be expected in the absence of racial bias,' the Brookings study found. The ramifications of the racial home equity divide Here's what makes all these barriers an urgent problem: Home equity is the main source of wealth for a historically unprecedented percentage of Black and Hispanic families. In 1992, only about one-third of these groups' wealth — 38 percent of Black wealth, 33 percent of Hispanic wealth — was concentrated in homeownership. Fast-forward to 2022: Home equity now comprises close to half of the wealth of Hispanic and Black households (45 percent and 44 percent, respectively). Not only is the value of other assets, like retirement accounts or business assets, much lower for Blacks and Hispanics than for whites, but they also have a smaller share of them — or don't have them at all. In contrast, home equity comprised about 19% of white households' net worth in 2022, roughly the same percentage as in 2013, according to the NCRC. Since diversification is important in mitigating risk, having all your nest eggs in one basket could be dangerous. 'Essentially, you have a scenario where many people [of color] are home-rich and asset-poor,' says Dean. 'It means that the next recession or housing crash could be particularly devastating for Black households in terms of wealth, given the dependency on home equity over the last decade.' That's why the ability to tap equity with a home equity loan or a HELOC is crucial, and becomes more so for Black homeowners as they age. 'Without adequate liquid assets or access to equity, older Black homeowners may struggle to cover a lot of expenses,' says Linna Zhu, senior research associate at the Urban Institute. 'Poor condition properties may need a major renovation at some point. The properties may lack accessibility features, especially for disabled households. Being unable to tap home equity reduces their ability to maintain housing stability and further worsens the racial wealth gap later in life.' How do we address the racial divide in home equity? Home equity remains one of the most powerful tools for building financial security, but it only works if everyone has a fair shot. And right now, too many Blacks and Hispanics aren't getting one. Admittedly, 'the current home-buying market isn't doing anyone any favors at all,' as Hermann puts it. But 'unless things improve, there's very little reason to think that you're going to see meaningful progress, either in increased access to homeownership for households of color or continued closing in these substantial and persistent wealth gaps.' So how do we make them improve? If we want home equity to be a true path to financial stability for everyone, we have to address barriers like income inequality, appraisal biases and loan denials that prevent families of color from fully participating in homeownership. That can be done by expanding access to higher-paying jobs, increasing support for down payment assistance and strengthening fair lending enforcement. Boosting financial literacy and education is also crucial as some homeowners may have misconceptions about home equity, not fully understand the equity they've built or how they can access it. A collective $35 trillion in homeowner equity is an amazing amount. But it doesn't mean much if it remains a number on paper for entire communities – or if they're being left out of the equation entirely. Questions, comments or thoughts about this article? Email me your feedback at lbell@ Get more from your home How to put your home equity to use with a flexible HELOC. Explore HELOC offers Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
"The scariest thing in your life is to be in the club, and having Mike Tyson talking to your ear" - Baron Davis recalls almost getting in the fight with Iron Mike in the club
"The scariest thing in your life is to be in the club, and having Mike Tyson talking to your ear" - Baron Davis recalls almost getting in the fight with Iron Mike in the club originally appeared on Basketball Network. There are plenty of wild stories from All-Star weekends over the years. From those on the hardwood to those, a little less known, that happen in the hazed atmosphere of a packed club or any other place that players go to blow off their steam. But every now and then, a story stands out because it involves someone with an aura that is so big that it fills the entire room, or in this case, the club. That's exactly what happened to Baron Davis, who found himself in a very unexpected situation during one of those downtime nights with his teammate and good friend Jason Richardson. The two were out at the club, relaxing and taking a breather from a disappointing season. At the time, the Golden State Warriors were nowhere near playoff contention, so the vibes were more "we'll get them next year" than anything else. Davis and J-Rich were just talking hoops (mostly) and sipping drinks, when that whole vibe shifted in an instant. "The next thing you know, Mike Tyson is right here," said Davis, while pointing his hand right next to his ear. "And Don Julio (J-Rich) was like, 'Oh, sh-t, that's Mike Tyson…'" "So he started whispering in my ear, talking in the club, dead in my ear. That was the one time… The scariest thing in your life is to be in the club, and having Mike Tyson talking to your ear, and he's mad at you. He is like, 'Man, what's up with you, looking all fat and sh-t,' I'm like, 'Damn, bro, he about to take me out," B-Diddy recalled with a smile, now that he is far away from that situation. Davis jokes about Tyson whispering Now, it's one thing to have a run-in with a celebrity. It's another when that celebrity is Mike Tyson, the man who once bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield's ear in the middle of a heavyweight title fight. So yeah, Baron had every reason to be on edge, especially with Tyson whispering directly into what he surely hoped would remain his fully intact ear. Tyson's presence alone is intimidating enough. But when he starts talking low and personal, you start thinking about your life decisions real fast. Baron didn't know if he was in for a joke, a lecture or a left hook incoming. Davis may have been one of the flashiest, toughest point guards of his generation, but even he had to admit: when Iron Mike gets in your ear, you don't talk back. You just pray that he leaves you Mike believes that Jordan is the GOAT Interestingly enough, Iron Mike might have given a night to remember for Baron in a club, but when it comes to basketball, he's a certified fan. And not just of the game, but of another Michael who left people shaken for entirely different reasons. Tyson's love and respect for Michael Jordan indeed runs deep. Back in 2022 on "Club Random" with Bill Maher, Tyson opened up about what separated MJ from every other hooper who's ever laced them up. For Mikes, both of them frankly, it was never just about talent; it was the mental warfare, the tunnel vision of success, the sacrifice… "The wholeness and the determination," Tyson said of Jordan at the time. "The willingness to sacrifice. You only do that by sacrifice. Only sacrificing can make you the best in the world. Nothing else. You have to sacrifice." So, yeah, Tyson might roast you in the club. He might even scare you half to death if you're Davis. But when it comes to basketball, he's got nothing but respect for the story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 16, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Goran Dragic recalls how Kobe Bryant dismantled the Suns in the 2010 Western Conference finals: "We would put two or three guys on him and we couldn't stop him"
Goran Dragic recalls how Kobe Bryant dismantled the Suns in the 2010 Western Conference finals: "We would put two or three guys on him and we couldn't stop him" originally appeared on Basketball Network. Goran Dragic had a front-row seat to the Kobe Bryant show in the 2010 Western Conference finals. Then, a backup point guard for the Phoenix Suns, Dragic reflected on Kobe's insanely efficient series and how he still did it, no matter what defensive schemes they threw his way. Advertisement "We went to the Western Conference finals, where we lost to the Los Angeles Lakers," Dragic said on the "NBA Mozzart Podcast." "We would put two, three or four guys on Kobe Bryant and we couldn't stop him. He was hitting everything." Besides Bryant's unstoppable scoring from all angles, Dragic highlighted the Lakers' size advantage. The Purple and Gold had two seven-footers, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, starting and a Swiss army knife power forward in Lamar Odom coming off that bench. Moreover, they had a steady veteran presence in the backcourt with Derek Fisher, plus a bench mob to complete the rotation. "They were a really strong team and we lost 4-2 in the end," added Dragic. Kobe's best Dragic's recollection of the series reflected his teammates' memory of the 2010 WCF matchup. Channing Frye said Kobe beat them so bad he was compelled to smoke a cigarette in a dirty Phoenix dive bar, the first and only time he did such a thing. Meanwhile, Jason Richardson attested to the Lakers' toughness with their size and the presence of Ron Artest. Advertisement Still, the Suns were a disciplined bunch that brought the best out of Bryant. Led by Nash, a two-time league MVP, Phoenix overcame a 0-2 deficit and came within an Artest buzzer-beater to force overtime in Game 5. Interestingly, Dragic had something to do with the Suns' resurgence in that pivotal game. As the Lakers controlled most of the game until early in the fourth, the momentum shifted in a heartbeat. Goran was in the middle of it all as he jawed with fellow Slovenian Sasha Vujacic. For some reason, this lit a fire under the Suns. With both guards assessed with technical fouls with over nine minutes left in the final period, Phoenix turned a 72-83 deficit into a 101-101 deadlock with three seconds remaining. That said, the series was a Mamba masterclass of efficient scoring. He averaged nearly 34 points, seven rebounds and eight assists on 52/43/88 shooting splits over six games. The closeout of Game 6 encapsulated Bryant's brilliance as he went for 37 points, six rebounds, two assists, and two steals (+19) in 41 minutes of action. Related: "He's going to fall in love with Lonzo so much" - LaVar Ball was excited about LeBron James playing with his son on the Lakers Bryant hit nothing but tough shots In typical Kobe fashion, it wasn't about the number of points he put on the board. The 2008 NBA MVP made tough shots to rip the opponents' hearts out and collectively destroy their will. Advertisement Time and again, Bryant rose over defenders with no daylight and buried jumper after jumper. He hit fadeaways from anywhere with defenders draped all over him, leaned into contact and still got clean looks off and banked in off-timed jumpers that made no basketball sense. Grant Hill, who drew the Kobe assignment in 2010, couldn't help but marvel at Bryant's shot-making abilities. Hill believed the five-time champion had no weaknesses in his game. In fact, Hill admitted he couldn't do anything defensively against him. Even when the Suns executed their schemes to perfection, it rarely mattered. Kobe made the impossible shots, anyway. That stretch of the playoffs may not be Kobe's flashiest on paper, but to those who had to guard and watch him, it was a clinic in outrageously high-level shot-making. Related: "This is my nightmare" - Goran Dragic on being dunked on by Derrick Rose in 2010 This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 29, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Magic Rookie Amazed After Signing Rookie Contract
Magic Rookie Amazed After Signing Rookie Contract originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Orlando Magic took a chance on Jase Richardson, drafting him with the No. 25 pick of the 2025 NBA draft. Although he only spent one year in college, it was enough for the Magic to make him part of the team. On Thursday, the rookie guard signed his first NBA contract with the organization. Advertisement The son of former NBA star, Jason Richardson, has shown promise in his lone season at Michigan State. He played in 36 games, averaging 12.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists on 49.3% shooting from the field. During that span, Richardson earned Third-team All-Big Ten and Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors. He was also selected to participate in the 2024 Jordan Brand Classic before playing in college. Jase Richardson talks to the media during the 2025 NBA Draft Banks-Imagn Images As Richardson signed his new contract, he couldn't help but be amazed. The 19-year-old prospect expressed that it was a dream come true for him to make it in the league. "You always grow up, you want to do this," Richardson said. "And, you know, just feels like a dream come true, honestly." Advertisement "I've been dreaming about this since I was four. And, you know, it's a super exciting feeling. I mean, the past week, I still haven't been able to sleep because it just still doesn't feel real to me that I got drafted into the NBA." Although it doesn't feel real now, Richardson thinks he'll start to realize that his dream has come true when he plays in Summer League. The youngster is part of the Magic's Summer League roster at Las Vegas. He'll be with his fellow rookie, Noah Penda, who also signed his rookie contract on the same day. Related: Magic Roster and Projected Starting Lineup After Making Major Moves This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 5, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Orlando Magic signs first-round pick Jase Richardson
The Orlando Magic have signed guard Jase Richardson, the team announced Thursday. Orlando selected Richardson 25th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft. He played his freshman season at Michigan State University. Advertisement During his time at Michigan State, Richardson appeared in 36 games, averaging 12.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game. He shot 49.3% from the field, 41.2% from three-point range, and 83.6% from the free throw line. Richardson was named to the 2024-25 All-Big Ten Third Team and earned Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors. He also helped the Spartans reach the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. Jase Richardson is the son of Jason Richardson, who played 13 seasons in the NBA, including two seasons with the Orlando Magic from 2010 to 2012. Richardson will wear number 11 for the Magic. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
