Michael Ventre

Perhaps the most astonishing statistic of Rick Fox’s career is this one:

“My SAG pension is better than my NBA pension.”

Fox played 13 seasons in the league, from 1991 to 2004. He’s been acting since 1994. The fact that he is more entrenched as a member of the Screen Actors Guild than he ever was as a professional basketball player speaks to a man with a plan.

In Hollywood, such plans are in abundance, especially when it comes to athletes making the transition to the entertainment field. Maybe it’s the promise of applause, the lure of a creative endeavor, the high of mingling with celebrities or the sacks of cash that await the lucky ones, but many athletes see a career in Hollywood as a natural segue when they’re no longer able to perform on the field or the court.

Fox’s realization that he wanted to pursue acting was not immediate. He said he always had an interest in the entertainment field, but wasn’t quite sure where he would go with it. It wasn’t until a casting call went out for the film “Eddie,” released in 1996, that Fox took the first step down that path.

“They were asking for actual NBA players,” he said of the comedy starring Whoopi Goldberg and Frank Langella that also featured some of Fox’s pro basketball colleagues such as Mark Jackson, John Salley, Malik Sealy and Greg Ostertag. “I went and auditioned, then I went back a second and third time and wound up acquiring a role.”

From that point on, Fox kept one eye on basketball and another on the camera. After “Eddie” and the 1996-97 season, he left the Boston Celtics to take up residence in L.A. “I knew the Lakers had the team of the future with Shaq,” he explained, “but I also knew I could be close to the industry. I could get into some classes and create some networking opportunities. It worked out great. Our on-court success opened some doors.”

Fox has three NBA championships on his resume. But more important, at least now, he has an extensive number of acting credits, including roles in the HBO prison drama, “Oz” and the current FX series, “Dirt.”

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Athletes seeking careers in Hollywood are nothing new. Swimming champs Buster Crabbe (“Flash Gordon,” “Buck Rogers”) and Johnny Weissmuller (“Tarzan”) had long careers as movie stars. And there was Marion Morrison, the former USC football player who became John Wayne. There was Jim Brown, O.J. Simpson, Fred Dryer, The Rock. The list goes on.

Fox is a prominent recent example and someone who seems to be in it for the long haul, unlike Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long, who dabbled. Naturally, Fox gets inquiries from other athletes looking to traipse a similar path.

“I give them the hard truth,” Fox said of wanna-bees who approach him for advice. “First and foremost, respect it. If someone walked into your practice facility or baseball stadium and said, ‘Hey man, I want to play with the Lakers or Yankees,’ how would you respond to that? You know how hard it is to compete at that level.

“I’ve been doing this since ’94 and I feel I’m JUST starting to get the kind of respect that comes with consistency and persistence.

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“There are a lot of individuals who come from sports or music and say, ‘O.K., I’m gonna try and be an actor’ without any real understanding of the craft, or any real respect for others who spend their lifetimes in this field.”

Jon Alston is one of the newbies. A rookie linebacker who minored in drama while at Stanford, he is focused on football, but he has given thought to life after it. As a result, he is looking at classes and went on his first audition last year.

“You look at guys in the NFL, we’re all entertainers to a certain extent,” he said. “Chad Johnson, Clinton Portis. I think being in high pressure situations and having to act without thinking eases the transition from football to acting. It’s very different obviously, but there are similar characteristics.”

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