The mid 90s produced some of the most dominant athletes in sports history. Kobe Bryant, Peyton Manning, and Derek Jeter all entered into their respective leagues within three years of one another and all managed to completely revolutionize their particular games. Among the three of them, there are hundreds of hours of highlight tape, and closets worth of hardware. However, years have passed, things have changed, and –unfortunately for the superstars of this generation—Father Time does not discriminate. The MLB saw its first season without Jeter this year, and the NBA and NFL may be in the midst of Bryant and Manning’s swan songs as we speak.
We are witnessing a change of the guard in the sports world, which begs the question: what will these athletes do post-retirement? Barring injury, Carmelo Anthony most likely still has several years left in his career, but he isn’t wasting any time in beginning to prepare for life after basketball. Anthony and former executive, Stuart Goldfarb, recently launched their new venture capital firm, M7 Tech Partners. Their first foray into the realm of investing involved their venture with a children’s media company called Hullabalu.
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Anthony expressed his admiration for the company’s storytelling ability and unique approach to reaching children with their application technology. Hullabalu has already received rave reviews from critics, making Melo’s rookie campaign as a venture capitalist a resounding success. He looks to make more technology ventures in the future, saying, “We are actively looking for ventures with strong leaders creating breakthrough products that resonate with consumers. I particularly have my eye on companies that are involved with wearable technology and connected devices. These will be huge areas for the future.”
Along with his tech investments, Melo has even dipped his feet in the world of film as well, executive producing a documentary about the trials and tribulations of Llyod Daniels, a playground basketball star on his difficult journey to the NBA. The movie is titled “The Legend of ‘Swea Pea’” and takes viewers through Daniels’ struggles with drug addiction and violence on his road to the league.
Melo isn’t the only NBA star with his eye on the world of technology and film. Warriors’ shooting guard Klay Thompson is involved with developing and endorsing the wearable technology created by ShotTracker. Retired MVP point guard, Steve Nash, has found success with a firm of his own. His Consigliere Capital has already invested in multiple tech companies including StellaService, Birchbox, and KiwiCrate. Lebron James tried his hand as an executive producer last year as well with his Starz special “Survivor’s Remorse. Not to mention James also appeared as an actor in the Amy Schumer comedy, “Trainwreck” just this summer.
With more and more young talent phasing its way into professional sports, there is an an increasing amount of storied superstars finding themselves on the fast track to retirement. It should be interesting to see how these sports icons will fair in the world of technology.