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Myles Garrett has invested in an energy company owned by a former NASA engineer. Boardroom reports the Cleveland Browns defensive end has invested in Johnson Energy Storage. Per the company website, it is on a mission “to transform the way the world stores energy; to more safely and efficiently store energy; to leave a softer footprint where we tread.” Through years of research, Founder Dr. Lonnie Johnson holds more than 140 patents and is widely known as the inventor of the Super Soaker water gun as well as an all-solid-state battery (ASSB) that was created using a glass electrolyte separator. “Our ASSB is 2 times the energy density of lithium ion batteries in the same size and weight package,” a description on the company website reads. “Our ASSB withstands higher and lower voltages than lithium-ion batteries and is designed for significantly lower self-discharge. Due to our unique, proprietary manufacturing process, the cost to manufacture our ASSB is 25% that of the current...
Carmelo Anthony is open to team ownership with his longtime friends LeBron James And Dwyane Wade. Anthony is already inching closer to obtaining ownership in the National Basketball League (NBL) after being named a Global Ambassador of its innovative Next Stars program, a news release mentions. With his appointment, it also means he can one day be part of an ownership team when the league expands. Speaking of his appointment, Anthony said, “The recent pipeline of talent that has come out of the NBL and into the NBA has been extremely impressive, and the Next Stars program is a prime example of the league’s commitment to nurturing talent and cultivating elite players. I look forward to working with the League to help play a role in shaping the future of basketball worldwide.” Anthony’s interest in team ownership, to no surprise, also includes the NBA. The 10-time All Star was drafted in 2003 to the Denver Nuggets as third overall draft pick, the NBA notes. He went on to spend...
Shedeur Sanders follows in his father’s footsteps by signing a deal with Nike. Deion Sanders, the head football coach at the University of Colorado , first signed to Nike in the 1990s and the partnership led to his own signature shoes, reports CBS Sports. Deion would later part ways with the shoe retailer, cementing a long-term partnership with Under Armour. In 2023, he made a comeback to Nike, paving the way for a fresh collection of footwear, such as a new version of the “Varsity Maize” Nike Air DT Max ’96, Complex mentions. View this post on Instagram A post shared by @COACHPRIME (@deionsanders) Deion’s legacy at Nike will now also include his son Shedeur, who has cemented a name, image, and likeness (NIL) deal. He becomes the first college football player to sign with Nike, according to Andscape. Per On3, Shedeur current NIL valuation is said to be $4.7 million. “Now it’s a family business,” a shared statement reads via Instagram. View this post on Instagram A post shared by...
Emmitt Smith first-ever restaurant venture has received an award within its first six months of business. The former NFL player is the owner of Emmitt’s Vegas, which opened on Feb. 26, 2024, according to The Dallas Morning News. The restaurant includes a main dining room, chef’s table, private dining room, bar, and terrace. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sweta kathuria (@swetta24) According to information shared with AFROTECH™, Emmitt’s Vegas menu items are spearheaded by Consulting Chef Steve Mannino and Executive Chef Antwan Ellis. Featured menu items include cedar plank salmon, roasted red bird chicken breast, main lobster tempura, steaks, sushi and rice bowls, and desserts including carrot cake, Emmitt’s butter cake, and parisian chocolate cake, among others. Based on its website, customers can also look forward to daily specials between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. which includes $11 Dry-Aged Burger, $22 Steak Frite, $22 Sushi Boat, and half-priced cocktails, draft beers,...
Rolanda Brandon has filed a lawsuit due to North Carolina’s NIL restrictions. She is the mother of Faizon Brandon, a quarterback at Grimsley High School and the nationa’s top-ranked recruit in the 2026 class, according to ABC11. The high school player intends to play for the University of Tennessee upon graduating in the fall of 2025, which he affirmed through a verbal commitment, per CBS Sports. The journey toward higher learning is often met with great excitement for athletes and name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals have further energized the sports arena for both college and some high school students. However, this may not have been the case for Faizon. The Athletic Narrative states that while high school students can engage in NIL deals, the eligibility is subject to state laws and the specific rules of their schools or sports teams. Rolanda is now suing the state of North Carolina due to the barriers around NIL deals, The Charlotte Observer reports. This has prevented Faizon...
Deion Sanders cares about the financial future of his players. Sanders, the head coach of the University of Colorado’s Buffaloes Football, brought forward eight players who are parents during a meeting held Aug. 25, 2024, per The New York Times. “Want y’all to know, ain’t like you’re in trouble,” Sanders said, according to Sports Illustrated. “You ain’t done nothing wrong. Matter of fact, you did something right. And a child is not a mistake. A child is an opportunity to mature you, grow you, advance you, and give you some skills. Y’all know how I am about fathering.” He added, “You know I would not hire a coach unless he’s a great father. I don’t hire a coach that’s a deadbeat, I don’t hire a coach that’s not taking care of his responsibilities. I would never hire a man that he says he’s going to look after y’all but he won’t look after his. That don’t make sense to me.” After affirming the players, he shared, alongside the school’s name, image, and likeness (NIL) collective 5430...
Kayvon Thibodeaux is among a growing number of NFL players who are considering life beyond the field. Sportico reported that the New York Giants defensive end has invested in real estate, beverage, hospitality, and restaurant industries. He also has a stake in Meatpacking District’s Meduza Mediterrania. “It’s about alignment for me,” Thibodeaux told the outlet. “When you come into a business, you can get your money back, but you can’t get your reputation back… For me being an athlete and aligning with the [diverse] personnel that’s going to be involved in this is the exemplar of what more athletes can do and should do.” Thibodeaux’s investment footprint is expected to grow as he is now listed as a venture partner with The Collectiv, a venture capital firm that focuses on early stage sports startups and intends to raise $20 million over the next six months, per Sportico. For the debut fund, he will focus on identifying valuable investment prospects and offering strategic advice on...
New Orleans Saints Defensive End Cam Jordan is strengthening his investment portfolio. Sportico reports that the athlete purchased a stake in eight Little Caesars locations in Indianapolis, IN, and its surrounding areas. The pizza chain holds early memories for Jordan as he would eat there while playing football at his former high school in Chandler, AZ. “It’s just the natural evolution of life and always trying to get the best out of it,” Jordan told the outlet. “I hope this is going to be something I look back on in 15 years and think, ‘This was one of the greatest [decisions] of my life, and this is how many things we’ve done.’” The deal was made possible with the help of his business partner, Andrew Feghali, who owns over 50 locations, and restaurant insider Michael Khalil. Together, they hope to scale their presence in Little Caesars’ franchising. Jordan’s expectations are leveled in part due to the advice of his father, who advised him to apply it to his time in the NFL, which...
Being in the NFL shifted Brandon Copeland’s perspective on money. Entrepreneur reports Copeland was raised in an environment that supported his journey in sports as a child. However it came because his mother chose not to spend money on extras like soda from a fast food restaurant or candy at the store. His understanding of money would be shaped while he attended the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and interned at Union Bank of Switzerland, but it was further strengthened when he signed on to play for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens in 2013. The league’s Players Association informed him about benefits that include a matched 401(k). “I had to make it to the Baltimore Ravens to learn what a 401(k) is,” Copeland told the outlet. “This is a tool that most people who interact with an employer may have the ability to use, but who taught my mom about a 401(k)? Who taught my brother about a 401(k)? Who taught anyone I love about these things that are just real facts of...
Dawn Staley knew her worth, which led to her receiving a historic contract. Since joining the South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball program as the head coach, she has led the team to 10 NCAA Attendance titles, with three appearances leading to national championships (2017, 2022, and 2024) the university’s website mentions. The 2024 win was foreshadowed by an undefeated season, with the team achieving a 38-0 run. This is merely a snapshot of the accolades Staley has secured since becoming the team’s head coach in 2008. “What women’s basketball needs is just someone that is literally a true honest GOAT. [I go so hard for Coach Staley] because no one wants her here,” WNBA player and former South Carolina Gamecocks player A’ja Wilson said, per Andscape. “No one believed she could get to this point and she’s sitting here shining. I think that is why she’s such a trailblazer for women’s basketball.” In 2021, Staley became the highest-paid Black head coach in NCAA Women’s Basketball,...
Josh Petty has received a significant name, image, and likeness (NIL) deal that was hard to pass up. Petty is an offensive lineman from Fellowship Christian School in Roswell, GA, and was a No. 8 prospect for Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), according to data released by 247Sports. Committing To Georgia Tech Announced on Aug. 12, 2024, Petty plans to take his football talents to Georgia Tech in Atlanta, GA, with an official commitment. For the school, this reportedly becomes its second-highest ranking recruit ever, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. “Georgia Tech is feeling like home and is my home,” Petty expressed, per the outlet. “They’ve got guys over there that make it feel authentic. They’ve got everything over there that’s been amazing. Staying in Atlanta is huge. It’ll definitely help with that feeling-at-home piece, but the friendly faces and the smiles and everything that goes on inside that building is more important to me as far as the home factor.”...
There is very little that’s as encouraging as family and friends’ support, and Keisha Caine Bishop has been a shining example regarding her son Noah Lyles during the 2024 Paris Olympics. While Lyles may be at the center of many of the conversations, Bishop was a decorated athlete in her own right. Lyles’ parents, Kevin Lyles and Bishop, met at Seton Hall University during the 1990s. According to People, both were accomplished track and field athletes in college. As a student, Bishop studied political science and Spanish. Keisha Caine Bishop’s Track Record According to her 2018 Hall of Fame induction bio, Bishop was a standout athlete for the Seton Hall Pirates, earning All-American honors nine times. She contributed to two NCAA national titles as a member of the 4×400 relay teams and played a key role in winning the 4×400 relay at the 1994 Championship of America at the Penn Relays – University of Pennsylvania. Bishop was also part of two BIG EAST Championship-winning teams and was...
Thanks to her mother’s advice, track-and-field athlete and Olympic gold medalist Masai Russell felt comfortable taking on NIL opportunities. In 2021, college athletes were permitted to profit from their name, image, and likeness for the first time due to an NCAA rule change, the New York Times reports. Russell, a University of Kentucky student-athlete at the time, was in disbelief. She recently expressed that it had been the status quo for athletes not to receive compensation. “When I was able to see that NIL was an opportunity that I could take advantage of, I didn’t know that it was real at first,” she mentioned during an interview on “The It Girls” podcast. “I didn’t know this was something that was in the making for so long because everyone, it was always like an ongoing, ‘Oh, no. Athletes shouldn’t get paid. Athletes should get paid.’ It was always a back-and-forth battle. So when the law actually got passed, I really didn’t believe it.” After further research, Russell was...
Kevin Durant has struck gold overseas. Olympic Victory The athlete is fresh off a USA Basketball Men’s National Team victory at the 2024 Olympics, taking home a gold medal alongside teammates, including LeBron James and Stephen Curry, and leading against France in a 98-87 upset, according to USA Today. View this post on Instagram A post shared by USA Basketball (@usabasketball) Durant now has four Olympic gold medals, according to his Team USA profile. “My goal every time I put this jersey on was to represent my country, my state, my street, my family name, and it help put the game forward,” Durant said, per USA Today. “And since I’ve been here, we’ve done that. We built off the Dream Team in ’92, and we carried that torch and that was the main goal.” Investing In Paris Saint-Germain Besides focusing on the victory lap on the court, Durant also looked to do the same in the business world through his sports, media, and entertainment company Boardroom, which he founded in 2019...
Jaylen Brown and Jason Kidd have a heart for the Oakland community. Each has ties to the city, which also catalyzes their bond. NBA Hall of Famer Kidd’s hometown is Oakland, CA, while Boston Celtics player Brown attended the University of California, Berkeley, and his college roommate was from Oakland, CA. “Oakland is like the second home to me. I went to Berkeley. Jason also went to Berkeley. Jason is one of my mentors,” Brown told AFROTECH™. “One of my roommates when I was in college was from Oakland. So I spent a lot of time in Oakland,” Giving Back To Their Communities While Brown and Kidd are connected through their ties to Oakland and their prominence in the world of basketball, they also share a passion for investing back into their communities. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Kidd showcased this when he participated in a $2.6 million raise to become co-owner of Oakland, CA-based soccer teams Oakland Roots SC (men’s) and Oakland Soul SC (women’s ) in 2023. “I grew up...