Drake and Michael B. Jordan confirmed yesterday that they’ve both become investors in the Brooklyn Aces, one of the teams in the new Major League Pickleball league. “Excited to have this ace up our sleeve,” the MLP tweeted following the announcement. The league began in 2021 and advertises itself as “the standard-bearer for the fastest-growing sport in the United States.”
NBA stars like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kevin Love and Draymond Green all invested in pickleball teams last year, along with NFL greats Tom Brady and Drew Brees. Pickleball was first invented in 1965, but the sport's popularity skyrocketed between 2021 and 2022 when the estimated number of players jumped to about 4.8 million nationwide.