12 Athletes Who Are Actually Pretty Cheap

I don't know what it's like to make millions of dollars, and chances are, neither do any of you.

But you know who does? Most athletes.

And while we all hope to some day make a six-digit paycheck for an entire year, they bring home that kind of dough every two weeks.

With that kind of loot, you'd expect them to be spending like crazy or over-tipping when going out, but, as you'll see here, that's not always the case.

Athletes at Award Shows

This is extremely broad, but after seeing an article that talked about how amped million dollar-making athletes get when receiving free swag at the ESPYs a few years ago, I had to generalize this.

Knicks forward Amar'e Stoudemire—who, at the time of the story had just signed a $100 million deal with New York—even went as far as saying, "Getting free stuff is definitely cool," gawking over a 200 diamond, $1 million watch in the meantime.

Even with tons of athletes spending millions on unnecessary things and going broke, they still love the fact that getting free stuff is cool.

Chad Johnson (NFL Free Agent)

OK, so Chad Johnson might not be a current NFL player right now—and honestly, probably never will be again—but I'd imagine with him shopping for cheap jewelry (1:36 mark) and eating McDonald's on the reg haven't changed since being out of football.

With a net worth of $5 million and a necessity to be in tip-top shape to perform at a high level as a pro athlete, it's surprising that Johnson would chow on such greasy goodness as double cheeseburgers and salted french fries.

For both being cheap and having great taste, I applaud you Chad.

Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen (NBA Hall of Famers)

Former Bulls greats Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen may have made sweet music together while playing in Chicago, leading the franchise to their only six NBA titles, leading them both to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

But when it comes to tipping at casinos, both aren't even worthy of being the Sixth Man.

Frequent stories have reported that Jordan has earned as much as $1 million during a single sitting on the tables, but has refused to ever tip a single dime.

Same goes for former teammate Pippen, who earned the nickname of 'Stiffin' Pippen' thanks to his routinely poor tipping.

Pip once bought an airplane and Jordan is majority owner of the Bobcats, so they've both made some serious financial decisions over his lifetime. Apparently, tipping a card dealer couldn't be one of them though.

LeBron James (Heat)

When you're as rich and powerful as four-time league MVP and back-to-back NBA champ LeBron James is, you'd imagine that he actually doesn't need to spend much since people are always giving him things for free anyway.

That's the only excuse I can find for King James after hearing that he's one of the worst celeb tippers out there.

Taking home more than $56 million last year, LeBron should be one of the biggest at tossing money at other people, but it looks like he's just as cheap as some of us normal folks are.

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson might best be known for his acting and wrestling skills, but to one certain waiter at a steak restaurant, he's nothing more than a lousy tipper after Johnson left a humiliating five percent tip for the guy.

That's what reportedly happened after Johnson called ahead to get the joint to open early for him, making it just a little bit worse than your average stiffing.

His tagline in the ring might have been "If you smell, what the Rock is cooking," but he apparently doesn't cook up big-time tips when dining out.

Chris Paul (Clippers)

In my eyes, Chris Paul seems like one of the good guys in the NBA, always having his son around, taking time to coach at summer camps and generally respected by his peers.

So when I found out that Paul (along with some other NBA big shots), didn't leave a single penny as a tip after being comped for CP3s bachelor party in Vegas a few years ago, it shocked me.

Some of the players named were guys that make the most in the league, so to think they not only got hooked up, but then stiffed the staff, is a pretty bold (and cheap) move.

Bryce Harper (Nationals)

Although Bryce Harper is only in his second season in the bigs, the All-Star outfielder and reigning NL Rookie of the Year has still earned more than $2 million in his short career.

That kind of money can't buy him everything he wants—though we might all expect him to do so very soon with his next contract—it should be able to buy him an $8 burrito at Chipotle.

Like other athletes though, Harper earned himself a free-burritos-for-life card from the fast-food Mexican restaurant, proving that he really does have a perfect life.

To show his gratitude, the young star tweeted out, "The best thing ever! I really appreciate it!"—yeah, so would about 95 percent of the American population, and we don't have millions to spend.

Joe Flacco (Ravens)

It's been quite the year for Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco.

He finally earned the praise he had so hoped for when he led Baltimore to their first Super Bowl since 2000, earning the game's MVP and having one of the best postseason's ever for a passer.

Flacco then cashed in by inking a then record $120.6 million deal ($52 million guaranteed), which should give him plenty of money for tweezers to fix that little unibrow he's got going on.

While most of us might celebrate all these accomplishments with a nice steak dinner at Ruth's Chris or Morton's, Flacco went for the fast food option instead, being spotted at a McDonald's drive thru.

Tiger Woods (PGA Tour)

For someone who is worth more than $500 million, PGA great Tiger Woods sure doesn't like to just toss his money around—I'm really resisting a prostitute joke here.

The 14-time Major champ sinks putts and cashes in at every single tournament, but Woods still has the label of being an awful tipper.

There's a story claiming that Tiger once re-pocketed a $5 tip to a dealer when playing a $10,000 hand because he remembered he already threw some chips his way.

Dude should earn a major stroke penalty for that one.

Drew Brees (Saints)

Meeting Saints quarterback Drew Brees a few times and seeing how active he is within his community, I'd never have a single bad thing to say about the guy.

But that doesn't mean that he didn't pull a more than frugal move last month when ordering takeout from one of his favorite San Diego restaurants.

Picking up $74 worth of food, Brees left a measly $3 tip—all this from a guy who made close to $48 million in total earnings last year.

Most of us tip more than that when a few pizzas get dropped off at our front door, so I just can't help but call Brees cheap on this one.

Carmelo Anthony (Knicks)

For all those athletes who overspend and get themselves into sticky financial situations, maybe it's time to take a bit of advice from Knicks forward, Carmelo Anthony?

You see, even though the guy was ranked No. 25 on Forbes' Richest Athletes list this year—bringing home $28 million—he still finds it necessary to cut-out all the coupons he can from the Sunday morning paper.

Hey, New York can get expensive, so it's probably a good call by Melo.

Alfred Morris (Redskins)

The Redskins' Alfred Morris might not be your favorite young running back in the league, even after rushing for over 1,600 yards as a rookie last year.

But thanks to his humility, he should be someone to at least respect.

Like a broken record, we hear athletes say it all the time, "I don't play for fame, I don't play for money, I play because I love the game."

Few actually back it up though.

Not Morris, who, even though he made $421,000 last season, still drives a 1991 Mazda 626 he aptly named "Bentley,"—which is getting a nice little makeover too.

It might be cheap, but it's a refreshingly kind of cheap from a pro athlete.