Ja Morant invests in Metropolitans French basketball club as NBA Europe inches towards reality

LOS ANGELES, CA — NBA star Ja Morant may not have been placed in the best opportunity to play this regular season with the Memphis Grizzlies, but he and his team are putting themselves in the best positions to win off the court.

Morant and Catch12, his media and business venture company, have purchased a stake in the Levallois Metropolitans French basketball team, ClutchPoints has been told.

Over the last couple of years, the NBA and FIBA have quickly progressed towards a partnership to bring a new basketball league to Europe. Morant and his team have been monitoring those conversations, and the minority ownership signals Morant’s interest building out his business portfolio outside of traditional means.

“I’m excited about how this first season with the Metros is going,” Ja Morant told ClutchPoints. “They represent the culture, just like we do. I like what we are building and hopefully we get to take it into NBA Europe.”

Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans Basketball Club, the French Basketball team Ja Morant is investing in, is most recently and famously known for being the team that San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama played with before he made the jump to the NBA.

“We’re the fastest-growing sport right now in this country,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said during the league’s two Europe games in January. “There’s, in essence, a golden era of the sport.

“I would just say we continue to be enormously excited about it. We’ve been meeting with clubs that are interested in participating in our league. We’ve been in discussions with other potential stakeholders, including media companies that would like to cover it, potential media partners and traditional sponsors who want to work with us on the league. We’re looking at the opportunity to grow the arena infrastructure, not just here in Germany but throughout the continent. It’s something that we’re enormously excited about.”

NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum has been tasked with leading the league’s NBA Europe initiative, with significant interest from investors in 12 major European cities. Paris is chief among them, which is why Morant and his team are capitalizing on the opportunity to own a team in Europe.

Phil Morant, CEO of Catch12, believes that what they’re building towards with both Paris and the Metropolitans.

“NBA Europe is coming, and it is going to be built around the right cities and the right organizations,” Phil Morant said. “Paris is one of those cities, and the Metropolitans represent it the right way. They have the culture, the foundation, and the vision. That is what puts you in position to be part of something bigger.”

While it’s still in its early stages, the target launch date for NBA Europe is sometime in 2027.

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