Will Smith and Jada Smith Pocketed Millions While the NBA Remained “Shut” for LeBron James and Stephen Curry in 2011

The three times NBA champion, the Philadelphia 76ers, is the oldest franchise in the NBA. Wilt Chamberlain, one of the best players in the game of basketball, played on this team. The team, which had notable players like Allen Iverson and Julius Erving, got a change in ownership in 2011. Joshua Harris, a New York-based business owner along with the rest of the people of his ownership group, purchased the Sixers in Oct 2011. They bought it at a price of around $280 million from the Comcast-Spectator.

Joshua Harris is one of the three founders of Apollo Global Management, a company known for purchasing distressed properties. However, it is unknown whether they bought the Sixers keeping their financial conditions in mind.

The Sixers didn’t win the championship for a long time. Josh Harris wanted to be proactive and do whatever to make the team win the league. But before that, he wanted to gain the trust of the fans. Therefore, reduced the price of the tickets when after he got ownership.

The famous Hollywood couple, Will and Jada Smith, also became a part of the organization by getting a minor stake in the team. Being a Philadelphian, it was the start of a new journey in the life of Will Smith. He seemed quite excited about the purchase.

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However, the value of the Sixers was around $280 million when the couple purchased. And today, after 11 years, the team is valued at over $2.4 billion. This purchase definitely resulted in growing Will and Jada Smith’s net worth in a huge way.

Lockout of the NBA and the purchase of the Philadelphia 76ers

When Joshua Harris and others purchased the Philadelphia 76ers, the NBA season was going through a lockout. When they bought it, the owners were highly enthusiastic about players but were unable to make a move in the market. The lockout restricted the owners to progress with acquiring new players in the market. So they were incapable of making the fans excited other than plummeting the ticket prices.

The lockout ran from July 1 to December 8 of 2011. The length of the season was also reduced from 82 to 66 games. Every player, including LeBron James and Stephen Curry, was unable to play during the lockout. But the lockout didn’t affect the players, anyway. They were able to give their best once the lockout ended.

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However, the lockout was unable to affect the growth of the net worth of Will and Jade Smith. They were able to comfortably pocket millions with the immense growth of the Sixers in the past decade.