Reports: LeBron James, Draymond Green and Kevin Love show interest in Major League Pickleball team ownership in the United States

Business partners LeBron James and Maverick Carter are reportedly delving into a new venture. Reports suggest that their company, LRMR Ventures, is interested in buying a team in Major League Pickleball, which is a rapidly-growing sport in the United States.

NBA champions Draymond Green and Kevin Love could invest in the project as well. The venture also highlights investments from SC Holdings, SpringHill Company CMO Paul Rivera, and Relevent Sports Group co-owner and CEO Daniel Sillman.

"Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the country, building communities in cities and towns all over the world," MLP founder Steve Kuhn said. "This investment and the platform that this group provides will significantly help us with our goal to reach 40 million pickleball players by 2030."

Pickleball can be played both outdoors and indoors on a badminton-sized court. It combines elements of tennis, badminton, and ping-pong, making it accessible to different age groups. The game is said to have been invented in 1965 by Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum.

You can learn more about the rules of the game here.

Major League Pickleball launched in September of last year. It has received widespread interest since then. It started with a team format where 32 professional pickleball players competed in eight four-member teams (an equal split between male and female players). It later evolved to 12 teams.

The league’s expansion plan from 12 to 16 teams is what gave LeBron James a chance to become a part of it. However, the financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed at the moment.

Maverick Carter has played pickleball and believes in its potential.

“When I started playing pickleball, I immediately connected with the sport's community and its capacity to be both fun and competitive," he told CNBC. "To see the sport growing in communities all over is really exciting, and we're looking forward to bringing our expertise together to try and build a championship team.”

LeBron James is building his portfolio

Los Angeles Lakers Media Day

MLP is not the first sports league that LeBron James owns a team in. The four-time NBA champion owns a minority stake in the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins and the MLB’s Boston Red Sox. Apart from the American leagues, James has held a minority stake in English Premier League club Liverpool since 2011.

That stake increased when Fenway Sports Group partnered with him in 2021. All of his current ownership stakes are by virtue of the partnership with Fenway Sports Group.

LeBron James has expressed interest in owning an NBA team as well. He discussed the idea on his talk show, 'The Shop.' He said his preference would be a team in Vegas. The NBA has considered expanding the number of teams for a while now, and that could be a project for the future.

Right now, LeBron James is focused on winning another championship with the LA Lakers, given he’s still dominating individually. But rest assured that he will jump on an ownership opportunity as soon as he can.