Suns star Chris Paul is entering the 18th season of his professional career, but the 37-year-old already knows what he wants to do when his playing days are over. Paul is hoping to own an NBA team one day, as Ngozi Nwanji of AfroTech relays (hat tip to Yahoo)
“I would like to be a part of an ownership group after I’m done playing,” Paul said at the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Summit, according to Nwanji.
Paul also stated his intentions earlier this summer. Of course, Paul plays for Phoenix, a team currently owned by Robert Sarver — who was recently fined $10MM and banned for a year after an investigation revealed he showed racial insensitivity and disrespect in the workplace.
Paul would likely want to stay involved in the NBA and improve league-wide leadership. Aside from being a strong on-court leader, Paul also served as the president of the National Basketball Players Association for eight years. He has played for New Orleans, Los Angeles (Clippers), Houston, Oklahoma City and Phoenix over the course of a storied career.
One of Paul’s friends, LeBron James, has already declared he wants to own an NBA team after he retires, while Dwyane Wade, another one of his friends, bought a stake in the Jazz last year. For now, Paul’s focus surely remains on winning a title, as the Suns fell short last season despite finishing 64-18.
In this day, with the value of franchises, Chris Paul would barely be able to afford 10% ownership of a team.
Chris Paul will make a great owner. I would love to see him own a team like the New Orleans Pelicans.
Wade his stake in the Jazz then the Banana Boat boys can go in together on a stake in the Las Vegas franchise.
They should have an expansion team with 50% of the shares sold to players and 50% put in a trust for the player benefits.
I hope the NBA has in place favorable investment programs to help more players build the wealth they will need to become owners. They should be able to invest in the NBA itself. In the future, all the teams should have former players with an ownership stake.
Why though?
I can’t shake the idea of very rich people “owning” others to play in large stadiums for the populace. The top players now get paid a whole lot more, after a generation of superstars proved that NBA profitability depends heavily on a few core players, but everyone else, especially those that don’t actually make it, get very little.
So I guess I’m assuming if players are owners, they will continue the trend to allocate more to those that make the product than those that deliver it.
He was president of the union. Not hapening.
He should focus on not choking and winning one title before thinking about owning a team.
Team game, bro.