NBA players often try to keep their ff-court portfolio ever-expanding. While their work on the court is what their primary focus is, they also want to pursue ventures off the court, such as entertainment projects and even investing.
NBA players earn a lot of money in their careers, thanks to the league being one of the most lucrative sports brands in the world. And many players choose to use their newfound wealth smartly and invest their money into organizations that they think could bring them more money later in their careers.
This trend of investment is fairly recent, as the NBA’s financial growth has been significant in the last 2 decades. Rather than spend their money on frivolous purchases, players want to further bolster their financial security by investing, thus also opening up a career path for when they hang up their basketball shoes.
And most recently, two of the NBA’s greatest players ever invested in a company that is about to yield massive benefits for them. Michael Jordan and Giannis Antetokounmpo invested in WatchBox, an e-commerce platform for collectible watches.
Jordan and Antetokounmpo were not the only NBA players to invest in WatchBox. Chris Paul, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Devin Booker also served as investors for the start-up. And now, according to sources, WatchBox is on the verge of being valued at $1 billion.
This will be a big victory for Jordan’s investment portfolio. Over the last few years, MJ’s investment in different companies has yielded a lot of positive results. Most recently, Jordan’s early investment in Sportsradar helped the company become extremely profitable, and is now valued at $7.9 billion.
Jordan and Giannis are far from the only NBA players to venture into the investment world. Kevin Durant in Coinbase when it was valued at $1.6 billion, and it recently turned that into a $100 billion investment. Whereas, Kobe Bryant’s $6 million investment in BodyArmor brought his family $400 million after a sale to Coca-Cola.
