NBA Player Chris Paul Says He Wants To Own An NBA Team — 'I Would Like To Be A Part Of An Ownership Group'

Almost every professional athlete envisions their dream plans once they officially take off their jersey. Earlier this year, LeBron James shared his dream of owning an NBA team in Las Vegas.

Recently, AfroTech got in on the scoop that James isn’t the only NBA superstar currently manifesting ownership.

NBA Ownership In The Future

During a sit-down interview at the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Summit, Chris Paul revealed that once he retires, he wants to own an NBA team.

“I would like to be a part of an ownership group after I’m done playing,” the Phoenix Suns star told the moderator.

Leadership In The League

While on the topic of the NBA, Paul spoke about his experience of joining the league’s executive committee in order to learn the business side of things — not just being a player.

Then, his interest led to him becoming the president of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) in 2013. Following his election, he went on to serve two four-year terms. One of his feats during his time was helping to increase the number of players registered to vote in the NBA Bubble from 35 percent to around 98 percent. 

Learning About HBCUs

In between pursuing his dream after retirement, one of Paul’s main focuses has been education.

Everyone has their own personal experience of when they learned about Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), whether it occurred when you were applying to schools or if a long line of your family members attended one. As for Paul, he had a bit more of an unconventional route toward learning more about the institutions.

Paul openly shared that his knowledge about HBCUs was scarce as a young student-athlete. His curiosity first came about at a time when he was in the process of transitioning from high school to college.

Chris Paul Speaks About Starting His Own Research

“I was born and raised in Winston Salem, North Carolina and I actually attended Wake Forest University,” he said during the summit. “Wake Forest was an amazing school, but in my hometown, you have a Wake Forest University over here and you have a Winston State Salem University over here, which is an HBCU. And Winston-Salem State never recruited me. Not saying that I would’ve went there. Not like that, but at the time honestly, there was sort of a blueprint to try to make it into professional sports. You would try to go to one of these big D1 schools so that you could be seen.”

He continued: “The world that we live in now with social media with access and exposure, whatever school you go to they’re gonna find you. For me, I became more aware and I was like ‘Man, these HBCUs are underrepresented. They don’t get the same funding.’ I started to do my research to find out why these schools are offering things at this school but not at these HBCUs. For me as a kid, you just see it as school. You don’t understand the funding. You don’t understand all the nuances of it. I really try to champion HBCUs as much as possible.”

Showing how involved he is with HBCUs, he shared that he is currently a student at Winston-Salem. He joked about being stressed with papers and his professor playing no games.

Actively Supporting HBCUs

Paul has been investing in HBCUs in multiple ways including numerous partnerships.

As previously reported by AfroTech, in June, he joined forces with Koia once again to “continue breaking down the barriers to success for HBCU students.” One hundred percent of the profits donated will fund HBCU scholarships. What’s more, his investment in the brand also brought Koia vending machines to HBCU campuses — including his own — to encourage healthier lifestyles.

On Sept. 14, Paul announced the launch of Good Eat’n, his own plant-based snack line, according to a press release shared with AfroTech. As of now, the snacks are exclusively on Gopuff, but it wouldn’t come as a surprise if Paul’s plan is to have them next at HBCUs.