On the basketball court, Antonio Davis was a fearsome powerforward. For 12 years until 2006, the 6ft 9in-tall star enjoyed his status as one of the US's most highly rated professional sportsmen, with a glittering career in which he played for the Chicago Bulls, the New York Knicks and the National Basketball Association All-Star team.

Off the court, Mr Davis says his life was a familiar basketball legend: as a very young man, paid more than he had ever imagined, he frittered away his earnings. "I certainly did blow some money early on," he says with a grin.