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USA Today via Reuters

USA Today via Reuters

Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant is the latest athlete to invest in Major League Pickleball. Durant followed the footsteps of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James and Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Tom Brady to buy a team in a sport that is played by 4.8 Million Americans.

Ever since the pandemic, Pickleball has shot up in popularity and it has attracted big names to the sport. In the last few weeks, Major League Pickleball has signed some huge names as their owners. The sport is one of the fastest growing in the world and it has attracted a huge number of entrepreneurs and athletes.

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NFL quarterbacks Drew Brees and Tom Brady recently signed on as owners. And LeBron James also bought a team along with a few other NBA stars.

Kevin Durant buys team following LeBron James and Tom Brady

Several other athletes have also invested in the expansion teams. Former tennis players Kim Clijsters and James Blake also invested with Brady and Brees respectively. Draymond Green, Kevin Love, and LeBron bought an expansion team along with Maverick Carter.

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Now, Kevin Durant is the latest to buy into this fast-growing league. The two-time Finals MVP bought into an MLP expansion along with his business partner, Rich Kleiman. Their company 35 ventures released a statement confirming their acquisition and they also plan to handle the business side of their team as well.

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Pickleball is a sport that combines badminton, tennis, and table tennis. And it is a sport that is more accessible and convenient to play than these standard sports. It has picked up all across the United States and courts are available across the country now. The league also plans to hit 40 million players by 2030.

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The league was started in 2021 and is now adding four expansion teams for next season and 16 teams will compete for $2 million in prize money over six tournaments. It will also benefit from the attraction of having superstar owners, who are famous in their respective sports. It will be nice to see LeBron James, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and others go head-to-head as owners. And now Kevin Durant is set to join the group as well.