USA TODAY: Warriors Draymond Green Invests in Blink Fitness
NBA All-Star Draymond Green diversifies his portfolio and gives back to his hometown.
Draymond Green remembers a time before his fame and success, when he had no gym to work out at and no cardio equipment to use while upping his basketball game. That experience has inspired him to sign on with low-cost gym franchise, Blink Fitness, according to a recent USA TODAY article. The partnership includes adding at least 20 gyms in Michigan and Illinois with Green as an investor in the brand and a franchisee involved in operations. He also plans to have a fellow franchisee partner, finance professional Tom Shumaker.
Green’s investment in the business helps diversify his portfolio, which the NBA is seeing more of from its players including LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry and Russell Westbrook. While taking off-court opportunities might not be anything new, players are starting to look outside of sponsorships. And with this deal, Green also is proud to be able to help build out his hometown and the Detroit area.
“I’m always searching for things that are organic to me, and Blink ended up being organic in more ways than one for me,” said Green. “No. 1, the goal was to start (building gyms in) downtown Detroit. I spent a lot of time in metro Detroit growing up, and I remember we wouldn’t even go (there). And to see where it’s at now, and to have a small helping hand in continuing to help build that, was interesting to me. So to help re-grow our big city, it will also indirectly help my hometown of Saginaw, Mich. and the people from my hometown, which is always a goal as well.”