Basketball star James Harden is making an investment in Houston’s soccer scene.
The 29 year-old Houston Rockets guard will become a minority owner of Major League Soccer’s Houston Dynamo and the National Women’s Soccer League’s Houston Dash, according to Fox 26 in Houston.
An official announcement has not yet been made, but Harden posted a video to his Instagram account that slowly zooms in on a Dynamo jersey with his name on it. The video then flashes and Harden appears sitting in the locker in front of the jersey.
The Dynamo and Dash are owned by a group led by Mexican-American businessman Gabriel Brener that also includes former boxer Oscar De La Hoya, among others. Harden’s stake in the club reportedly will be around 5%, according to Front Office Sports.
Harden isn’t the first North American basketball player to invest in soccer. Steve Nash, who represented the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers in a career that spanned from 1996-2015, is part-owner of the Vancouver Whitecaps. Former Lakers star Magic Johnson is also a minority owner of Los Angeles FC.
ICYMI NBA sources: #Rockets superstar James Harden (@JHarden13) has joined the ownership group that controls the @HoustonDynamo & @HoustonDash franchises headed by majority owner Gabriel Brener & includes former boxing great @OscarDeLaHoya. James posted this video on Instagram: pic.twitter.com/OKMb6vKKli
— Mark Berman (@MarkBerman_) July 18, 2019
Other professional athletes have become owners in MLS, too. Former United States women’s national team star Mia Hamm and her husband, former Boston Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, are both minority owners of LAFC. International icon David Beckham now partially owns Inter Miami FC, which joins MLS next year.
Harden’s NBA career started in 2009 with the Oklahoma City Thunder, but he moved to Houston in 2012 and has four years left on his contract. He is a former league MVP, a seven-time All-Star and 2012 Olympic gold medalist with the United States basketball team.