Billie Jean King sends endearing message to Shohei Ohtani after meeting $150M-worth MLB star with her wife Ilana Kloss

Billie Jean King recently shared a heartwarming message to Japanese professional baseball player Shohei Ohtani after meeting him alongside her wife, Ilana Kloss. Ohtani currently serves as the pitcher and designated hitter for the Los Angeles Dodgers in Major League Baseball (MLB).

In addition to playing with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Ohtani has also played for the Los Angeles Angels from 2018-2023 and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters from 2013–2017.

Throughout his career, Ohtani has been awarded the Most Valuable Player Award three times. He also helped his nation win the 2023 World Baseball Classic, where they defeated the defending champions, the United States, in the championship game. He was also awarded the MVP title for his outstanding performance.

Recently, Billie Jean King, along with her wife Ilana Kloss, met with Shohei Ohtani, who has a net worth of $150 million (according to Celebrity Net Worth). King took to social media to share a photo of their meeting, expressing that it was “great” meeting the baseball player.

“Great to see you today, @shoheiohtani,” King captioned her Instagram story.

Screen grab of King's Instagram story [Image Source: Instagram]

On the tennis side of things, Billie Jean King finished her career with an impressive 39 Grand Slam titles to her name, including 12 in singles, 16 in women's doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles. She won her last Grand Slam title at the 1980 US Open women's doubles, where she had partnered with former World No.1 Martina Navratilova.

---

“The very first time I saw Billie Jean King, I was 10 years old” - When American tennis legend's wife Ilana Kloss recalled how they met the first time

Billie Jean King and her wife Ilana Kloss at an event in 2024 [Image Source: Getty Images]

Last year, Billie Jean King and her wife, Ilana Kloss, made an appearance on the 'Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast.' During the podcast, Kloss recalled the moment she first crossed paths with King.

Kloss revealed that their first meeting took place in South Africa, where King was participating in a tournament and Kloss was a ball kid. She said that she remembers seeing the former World No.1 along with several other great players in tennis like Rosie Casals, Rod Laver and Tony Roche, among others.

“Starts as a ball girl at the South African championships and Billie in the amateur days,” Kloss said [4:01]. “The very first time I saw Billie Jean, I was 10 years old. Billie Jean King, Rosie Casals, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Tony Roche, all the best players in the world came and I was a ball girl.” [4:38]

“I just loved the way Billie served and volleyed, always charged the net and had all of this emotion and passion in the way she played,” she added [4:53]. “I decided that day that I was going to be a professional tennis player. Little did I know there wasn’t pro tennis yet for women. So that was my first time I met her.” [5:47]

Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss first met when the American was married to Larry King. Following King's divorce from Larry in 1987, the two started dating. After being in a relationship for over three decades, King and Kloss got married in a private ceremony in 2018.