By Kendall Fisher (opens in new tab), executive producer at Grow Wire
You might know Metta World Peace as one of the most memorable NBA players of all time--a defensive stopper, an NBA All-Star and a world champion with the Los Angeles Lakers (opens in new tab). He most recently appeared in Ice Cube’s BIG3 (a three-on-three basketball league) and is involved with the Laker’s G-league team.
But the former Los Angeles Lakers player has a few other titles he holds off the basketball court (and no, we’re not talking about “Ron Artest”).
Metta World Peace is a business leader, an entrepreneur, a founder and a CEO—yes, all the while maintaining a career in basketball. He’s overseeing his sports management company, Artest Management Group (AMG), and he’s looking to make waves in tech with an app that combines both his love of sports and his passion for business.
In fact, we sat down with him on this episode of "The Grow Wire Podcast" to discuss the app, Gradelo (opens in new tab)—a social networking platform built around sports, allowing amateur and professional athletes to show off their talent while setting up a fun competition between friends, fans, players, coaches and peers.
But not even Metta World Peace can just jump into entrepreneurialism and succeed.
Chatting with host Jason Maynard, Metta World Peace opened up about the trials and tribulations he is currently facing with the app, including everything from hiring the right designer to finding a balance between business, basketball and family.
“I don’t really mind talking about [the challenges with] my app because I feel like it’s going to inspire another entrepreneur who’s in the same position who is trying to build their company and are at the same spot that I’m at,” Metta World Peace shared. “I’d rather share the story to give an entrepreneur some insight.”
He also opens up about the motivation behind jumping into an entrepreneurial career, what’s surprised him the most thus far and the biggest intersection he’s experienced between sports and business.
Of course, we couldn’t do this podcast without at least a few stories of Metta World Peace’s basketball career. So, you’ll definitely want to tune in for stories about the Big 3, Kobe Bryant and more.
Listen to the full podcast episode on Apple Podcasts (opens in new tab), Soundcloud (opens in new tab) and YouTube (opens in new tab), and as always, don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe.
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