After playing 19 seasons, Andre Iguodala is next up to retire from the NBA, The New York Times’ DealBook reports.
“It’s been a blessing to play for that long,” Iguodala told the outlet. “I don’t know if it’s actually hit me yet.”
As he has officially put down his jersey, the four-time NBA championship winner and former Golden State Warriors star is picking up another role full-time.
According to DealBook, Iguodala will lead Mosaic, his $200 million VC fund, alongside his longtime business partner, Rudy Cline-Thomas.
The outlet details that the fund comes after the duo started buying tech stocks in 2010, then, looking into startups during the same year he began playing for the Golden State Warriors.
“When I initially went out to the Bay Area, it was my intent to have success on and off the court,” Iguodala explained. “I thought about how to get access.”
Thanks to the “access,” he was able to secure stakes in Zoom, Cloudflare, and more.
Now, Mosaic, which closed on its first round in May 2023, is set to make seed and early-stage investments in companies across enterprise software, fintech health care, and sports.
As of this writing, the fund has invested in Vessel and Athletes First.
Following his retirement announcement, Iguodala also shared that his “ultimate goal” is to own an NBA team. However, “the timing has to be right.”
In the meantime, Iguodala has been seeking ownership in sports outside of basketball. According to a news release, in October 2023, he became a part of the ownership group for the San Francisco team for Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TMRW Golf League (TGL). Iguodala’s former teammates Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are also investors in TGL San Francisco, which has yet to have an official team name.
“As we move towards the launch of TGL’s inaugural season in January 2024, TGL San Francisco will be focused on developing an extraordinary team of talented players and we are excited to have Andre and Klay as part of our amazing ownership group,” former Milwaukee Bucks Owner Marc Lasry shared in a statement.