LeBron James and Naomi Osaka are becoming teammates in the entertainment world.
Tennis star Osaka and his agent and business partner, Stuart Duguid, are creating a media company called Hana Kuma in partnership with The Springhill Company, which was created by NBA stars James and Maverick Carter.
Tuesday’s announcement comes shortly after Osaka and Duguid started EVOLVE, an athlete representation agency.
“Creators of Color have finally had a blast being equipped with the resources and a massive platform,” Osaka said in a press release regarding their latest venture. “In the streaming age, there is a more global view of content. You can see it in the popularity of television in Asia, Europe and Latin America that the unique can also be universal. My story is also proof of this. I’m so excited for what we’re building at Hana Kuma. We’ll bring stories to life with this goal in mind: to make unique perspectives feel universal and inspire people along the way. ,
The 24-year-old Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam champion who has also risen to No. 1 in the WTA rankings. He was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and Haitian father; The family moved to New York when Naomi was 3 years old and now lives in Los Angeles.
Osaka recently said that she will not play Wimbledon for the second year in a row. She has not taken part on the tour since her first-round loss at the French Open last month.
According to Forbes, Osaka became the world’s highest-paid female athlete in 2020 by netting around $37 million thanks to a long list of sponsorship deals.
Recently, she has been taking steps to expand her brand beyond the tennis court.
When asked about EVOLVE at Roland Garros, Osaka said: “I think role models are really important, just watching someone do something – and it makes you feel like you can do the same thing. I found it really interesting that there wasn’t a female athlete who had done it before, but so many men have been. So I think it’s a journey, and I think I’m going to learn a lot in this journey Am.”
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