Draymond Green ‘excited’ to help grow pickleball alongside other NBA stars

TOKYO — Draymond Green is taking a swing at owning a team, but it’s not for a sport one would expect.

Green joined forces with LeBron James and Kevin Love to invest in a new professional pickleball team. The trio joined LRMR Ventures in buying a Major League Pickleball team, the league announced Wednesday.

It’s unclear when the team will be up-and-running and where it will be located. MLP currently has 12 four-person teams, with Green’s future team being a part of an expansion to 16 teams next year.

“To see that there was an opportunity to be a part of an ownership group for such a fast growing sport, to be a part of an ownership group and to help continue to push that sport forward, it’s great,” Green said Thursday before Warriors practice, “and I’m excited about it.”

Pickleball, often described as a combination of tennis, ping-pong and badminton, has become one of the fastest-growing sports in the U.S. in recent years. A 2022 study by The Sports & Fitness Industry Association found that more than 4.8 million people actively play the sport today, up 39.3% from two years ago.

Green is among the wave of people who have recently picked up pickleball. Despite being more athletically gifted than the average person, the now-four-time NBA champion said he got whooped by a middle-aged man in his first match.

“He was destroying us, and I just couldn’t wrap my head around it,” Green said.

Green has since stepped up his game and now describes himself as being “pretty bad a–” when it comes to the sport.

“I don’t lose too often,” he said. “Pickleball is a fun sport.” So much so that it’s become a regular activity at Warriors practice, according to Moses Moody, who said he’s a “decent” player.

Green appreciated the inclusivity of pickleball. In fact, 50% of the nearly 5 million people who play are 35 years or older, according to USA Pickleball.

“The thing I love about pickleball is you can play against anyone and get your a– kicked,” Green said. “It’s not like, ‘I’m a more superior athlete than you.’ I may step out there and you may totally kick my a–. And it’s frustrating but it’s that challenge that keeps me going back to pickleball.”

Coach Steve Kerr doesn’t participate in the games. “I know orthopedic surgeons are getting a lot of work repairing Achilles tendons… from 50-year-old guys like me so that’s why I don’t play,” he said. But Kerr is in full support of Green diversifying his business portfolio.

“It’s great,” Kerr said. “Pickleball is exploding all over the country.”

If all goes well, Green said he might consider being an NBA owner after his playing days are done. That is contingent, however, on the asking price.

“Evaluations are getting pretty high so kind of have to take that into account,” he said. “But yeah, we’ll see if the opportunity presents itself.”