The Pickleball craze sweeping the country is also taking one of the USA’s most popular sports by storm. The NBA is home to many influential athletes and celebrities who are getting seriously involved in the game. Here are 6 individuals who are substantially contributing to the growth of Pickleball.
1) Lebron James – Los Angeles Lakers
LeBron has been busy with more things than preparing for the first Los Angeles Lakers game of the season.. Along with a couple other influetial NBA athletes, LeBron bought an expansion franchise in the growing professional Pickleball League called the MLP (Major League Pickleball).
2) Kevin Durant – Brooklyn Nets
There are only a few NBA players in the game right now as accomplished as LeBron, and Kevin Durant is one of them. Durant is another star to join in on the Pickleball action. Yesterday it was announced that his firm Thirty Five Ventures (35V) will be purchasing one of the 4 expansion pickleball teams in the MLP. Durant is a bit more controversial as a sports figure than LeBron, but a massively influential athlete none the less. He also likes to dabble in the game when he’s not starting beefs on Twitter. We are excited to see Durant wrap those Twitter fingers around a Pickleball paddle more in the future?
3) Rick Barry – NBA Hall of Famer
The 78 year old form NBA and ABA legend Ricky Barry has found his calling late in life. A great scorer in the 1960s and 1970s for teams like the Golden State Warriors, he’s now dominating the Pickleball court just as he did on the Basketball court a half century ago.
Mr. Barry played Pickleball recreationally for a few months after discovering the sport. after those few months he gave himself the goal of winning an official title in some capacity at his modest age. The firey competitor in him took over. He started playing seriously and soon was playing Pickleball professionally wining numerous gold medals including one in Naples, Fla. where at the pickleball U.S. Open won a Gold Medal in Senior Men’s Doubles.
4) Kevin Love – Cleveland Cavaliers
Kevin Love is joining his former teammate LeBron in buying up a Pickleball franchise. Now LeBron James business partner in ownership of one of the MLP’s new expansion franchises, Love is staking his claim on the fastest growing sport in America.
5) Draymond Green – Golden State Warriors
When he’s not playing basketball, starting fights on the practice court or telling the media how he really feels, what does Draymond Green do? Well one thing the Golden State Warriors forward does is buy up Major League Pickleball franchises with some of his buddies in the NBA. Joining the likes of Kevin Love and LeBron, Draymond is joining in on a corhort of businesses buying a stake in the MLP franchise whose name is to be determined.
6) Scott Foster – NBA Referee
Scott Foster has been an NBA referee for almost 30 years. He also is an avid Pickleballer, and was the main driving force behind the NBA refs obsession with Pickleball in the NBA playoff bubble at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Foster organized intense 2 on 2 marathon tournaments amongst the NBA refs which may have rubbed off on the players given how much some of them are investing into the sport.
With some refs officiating only 20 games in their 90 day stay in the bubble, Pickleball helped keep some of these NBA referees sane. When Foster arrived, he immediately set up a court outside the dining hall on a mediocre concrete playing surface, drawing lines with chalk.
Apparently Foster is a bit of a trash talker on the Pickleball court, which is ironic given that he is know for easily giving technical fouls to players when officiating on the basketball court. Either way, he can talk as much trash as he wants so long as he keeps being a Pickleball evangelist!
7) Jim Buss – Lakers Co-Owner
Jim Buss is another influential NBA figure on the ownership side that is contributing to the growth of Pickleball. Jim Buss is the son of former Lakers owner Jerry Buss. Just months before LeBron and his friends pulled the trigger on buying a MLP expansion franchise, Jim Buss joined NFL legend in ownership of the Mad Drops Pickleball Club in July 2022
Conclusion
The NBA is has been good to the Pickleball world and is helping in building communities for the sport across every generation. Over time, expect to see more and more famous pro athletes gravitate towards the game of Pickleball.