After the visit of an NBA champion to training, the arrival of an NBA All-Star in the capital! A few weeks after welcoming Serge Ibaka as a sparring partner, the Metropolitans Basketball Club can now boast of the entry of Ja Morant into its financial environment.
“Not just an investment in a basketball club”
For good reason, the company he chairs, Catch12, founded last summer by him and whose daily executive management is entrusted to his uncle, Phil, has formalized THURSDAY “a strategic investment in EuroStep Ventures (ESV), the parent company of the Metropolitans, one of the most recognized basketball clubs in Europe”.
If the last formulation may be surprising for an NM1 team, born in September 2024 moreover, the Metropolitans brand has been widely recognized in the United States since Victor Wembanyama’s season, which was broadcast in full on NBA TV.
“It’s not just an investment in a basketball club”asks Phil Morant, Ja’s uncle, director of Catch 12. “Investing in EuroStep is not just a commercial decision. It is an investment in people, in culture, in an opportunity for the future. It is a statement of what we believe in: excellence, responsibility and community. What EuroStep is accomplishing in Paris reminds us that when you combine vision and values, you can create something that shapes both the game and the people it touches for generations to come. »
NBA Europe objective?
A very abstract communication but which openly exposes Paris, although not the stronghold of the Metropolitans, based in Levallois. Obviously not a coincidence for the Morants, attracted by the Parisian market in the context of NBA Europe. Sole leader of Pool A of NM1, victorious in Toulouse on Friday (83-81), the LMBC obviously has other ambitions than the top of the third division table. A return to LNB in the short term, obviously, but also a ticket to NBA Europe.
“We will be candidates when the time comes”promised President Luc Dayan to Parisian last May. “The American League had tested the waters. It all remained hypothetical then. But if the planets align, nothing is impossible”he added to The Team in October.
In all of Catch12’s oils’ statements, the words “NBA Europe” are obviously never spoken, but noticeable if you read between the lines. “This partnership is a perfect example of how athlete-led strategic enterprise and cultural intelligence can create new models of growth in global sport”expresses Sumair Khan, general manager of Catch12, one of the main players in the negotiation. “EuroStep has built a forward-thinking platform, and we are proud to bring our strategic and creative resources to contribute to its development on a global scale, particularly as the basketball world’s attention expands to Europe. »
« Dsignificant amounts » invested by the Morants
While we already find Antoine Kombouaré (football coach) among the club’s investors via the subsidiary GPS33, which Luc Dayan would like to play “his excellent relationships” with Qatar Sports Investments, which was at the origin of the first merger between Qatar and PSG in 2006, to link them to the file, the entry of the Morant family into the capital of the Metropolitans is not neutral.
Co-founder of ESV, Sam Katzin-Simon announced to The Team that Catch12’s investment was based “on significant amounts”. “Paris is a basketball city, but today, thanks to our partnership with Catch12, the future of our sport in the City of Lights is more promising than ever”he adds in the official press release. “Together, we are laying the foundation for the future of basketball. »
Ironically, Ja Morant is at odds with one of the greatest figures in the history of Parisian basketball, Tuomas Iisalo, his coach at Memphis, the man who revolutionized Paris Basketball in 2023/24. Controversial in the NBA, suspended several times for off-court misconduct, the double All-Star nonetheless remains one of the faces of the Association, one of the most exciting players to watch play. Before becoming one of the men who will help put Paris on the NBA map?
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