Many of our favorite basketball stars have proved to be equally adept in the business world as they were on the court. Here are some of the Best NBA Entrepreneur Examples who have shown us how to be a successful entrepreneur as well.
Michael Jordan
Probably the best player to ever appear in the NBA, Jordan also became its first billionaire, largely thanks to shrewd endorsements with the likes of Nike, Coca-Cola, and Gatorade. Once he had stopped playing, he continued to build up his fortune with a range of business interests.
His most widely-publicized business interest is probably his stake in the Charlotte Hornets, while he also partly owns the Miami Marlins.
In 2020, he announced that he was going into partnership with NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin, to field a vehicle in the 2021 season. His net wealth was also estimated at over $2 billion recently, making Jordan fourth on the list of the richest African-Americans.
Another area where the NBA legend has profited is in the automotive trade, as he co-owns a group that has a Nissan dealership in North Carolina. Other business interests include restaurants and an exclusive golf course in Florida that recently opened.
LeBron James
James has started his business career before retiring, as he is still playing for the Los Angeles Lakers and is the league’s most heavily-endorsed player. Yet, he already picked up $30 million from an investment, when Apple bought Beats by Dre, which he had a stake in.
He has also moved into TV production, with the SpringHill Entertainment company that he partly owns. They produced the Cleveland Hustles series in which up and coming entrepreneurs in Ohio need to revitalize the neighborhood, with James hosting the show.
It also seems likely that he makes more moves in the music industry in the future, as he has also worked as executive producer on an album by rapper 2 Chainz. For the moment, we still know LeBron James best for his basketball skills, but don’t be surprised to see him in many other areas once he retires from the sport.
Shaquille O’Neal
Another of the biggest names to grace the NBA, O’Neal started out with Orlando Magic when he was picked by them in the 1992 draft.
After that, he forged a reputation as one of the sport’s finest players over a 19-year career with six teams, becoming a favorite with basketball betting fans for his huge match-winning efforts.
O’Neal is clearly an NBA legend and he tops the list of best NBA centers of all time according to this TwinSpires Edge list: edge.twinspires.com/nba/the-best-centers-in-nba-history/
His retirement has seen him move into new areas of business with a variety of ventures. He has dabbled in areas such as music and acting, and has said that he gets many offers to get involved in business ventures.
He has invested in the likes of burger franchises, esports, vitamin drinks, and real estate. The former NBA player has also been active on the stock market, looking for investments that he feels a personal connection with.
Magic Johnson
Probably the ex-player who has moved most effortlessly into the business world, Magic Johnson spent 13 seasons at the LA Lakers while forging a career as being one of the very best players in the history of basketball.
He has built up a company called Magic Johnson Enterprises and named himself as the CEO. This company has made him large profits with franchises relating to different restaurants, fitness centers and so on.
Johnson has pointed out in the past that he has made a success of this business career because he took the time to find out everything that he could about being an entrepreneur, rather than just diving in and getting started. His Magic32 sports store was an early flop, but he soon learned the recipe for business success.
