Kevin Durant newest sports activities star to personal pickleball franchise

Kevin Durant has joined the checklist of famous person athletes to personal a pickleball workforce.

Durant was introduced Thursday as an proprietor of a Main League Pickleball growth workforce, alongside together with his supervisor Wealthy Kleiman and their joint Thirty 5 Ventures.

“35V is dedicated to investing in the way forward for sports activities and rising alternatives, and Main League Pickleball is a league we’re extremely enthusiastic about,” Kleiman mentioned in a press launch. “We won’t wait to construct this workforce from the bottom up in addition to work to raise the game and the league to unprecedented heights. As an avid pickleball participant and fan, the curiosity within the sport was a pure match.”

Thirty 5 Ventures will probably be concerned with the growth workforce “as a full-time enterprise,” in keeping with the discharge, and can handle all facets, together with advertising and marketing and participant relations.

Durant mentioned he “by no means thought” he would get into pickleball in a video on Boardroom, which 35V owns, however the Brooklyn Nets star ahead mentioned the game turned a “small ardour” after Kleiman bought him onto the courtroom to play for himself.

“Kevin Durant, Wealthy Kleiman, and 35V are going to be game-changing companions for Main League Pickleball,” mentioned Steve Kuhn, the MLP CEO and founder. “They not solely carry ardour for the sport, but additionally unmatched experience to assist us to proceed to develop. We’re particularly enthusiastic about their plans to carry pickleball to underserved communities — one thing they’ve executed with basketball for years.”

LeBron James was beforehand introduced as an proprietor of a MLP growth workforce, alongside Maverick Carter, Draymond Inexperienced and Kevin Love. Tom Brady and Kim Clijsters additionally have been named as a part of an possession group of one other workforce final week. Drew Brees and James Blake are additionally buyers within the league.

The MLP, which was based in 2021, will broaden from its present 12 groups to 16 in 2023, and double its annual occasions to 6. The league mentioned prize cash is anticipated to surpass $2 million subsequent season.

Within the Boardroom video Durant mentioned their subsequent steps can be to determine a metropolis for the workforce to play in and characterize, and to search out the correct gamers for his or her imaginative and prescient.

“We actually, actually wish to go away our mark from Day 1 on how arduous our workforce goes to play, and the way profitable we’ll be as a bunch,” the 12-time NBA All-Star mentioned.