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Kevin Durant has joined his fellow NBA stars and has brought his own pickleball team. Durant was announced Thursday as the newest owner of a Major League Pickleball expansion team, along with his manager Rich Kleiman and their joint Thirty-Five Ventures.
Last week, NFL star Tom Brady and former tennis player Kim Clijsters led an ownership group to purchase another expansion team. Two weeks earlier, LeBron James and other NBA players also invested in one.
Super Bowl Champion Drew Brees, entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk (Gary Vee), famed lecturer and research professor Brené Brown, co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks Marc Lasry, former World No.4 tennis player James Blake, and from Bravo's Million Dollar Listing New York, Ryan Serhant are the other superstar owners.
The league will be adding four teams for the 2023 season taking the league total to 16. This expansion will also be increasing player prize money and payouts to over $2 million. Rich Kleiman, Kevin Durant's manager talked about their new venture and expressed that the sport could reach new heights in the coming years.
He said, "35V is committed to investing in the future of sports and emerging opportunities and Major League Pickleball is a league we are incredibly excited about. We can't wait to build this team from the ground up as well as work to elevate the sport and the league to unprecedented heights. As an avid pickleball player and fan, the interest in the sport was a natural fit."
Similarly, the MLP CEO and founder Steve Kuhn also expressed excitement about getting KD and Kleiman on board for the new season. He said, “Kevin Durant, Rich Kleiman, and 35V are going to be game-changing partners for Major League Pickleball. They not only bring passion for the game but also unrivalled expertise to help us to continue to grow. We're especially excited about their plans to bring pickleball to underserved communities -- something they have done with basketball for years."