Grizzlies Star Ja Morant Linked to Purchase of Professional Basketball Team

While Jackson Jr. received an extension this offseason, and shortly followed that up by suffering a turf toe injury, Morant took some time this offseason to head out to the Philippines, China, and Japan as a part of his global tour with Nike. There's no telling if his time out there inspired him, but it appears as though Morant could be looking to make a major investment overseas soon.

According to Tomer Azarly of Clutch Points, Morant's business and media company Catch 12 is in talks to purchase an ownership stake in a European basketball franchise.

In the report by Azarly, he details that Catch12 is in exploratory talks about this venture, "but owning a minority stake in one of Europe's premier basketball markets reflects Morant and Catch12's commitment to expanding his brand beyond the United States."

What Does This Mean For Morant?

While this is big news for Morant as he looks to grow his brand and business beyond the United States, this shouldn't serve as a warning to Grizzlies fans that the two-time All-Star is looking to leave the NBA to play overseas anytime soon.

If a deal for ownership were to go through, Morant wouldn't be the only active professional athlete to be a part of an ownership group. Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, for example, is a partner at Fenway Sports Group, the company that owns majority ownership in the Boston Red Sox and English Premier League club Liverpool FC.

Given Morant is still one of the premier point guards in the NBA, it wouldn't make any sense for him to abandon the hundreds of millions of dollars he has on the table to head to Europe to play for a basketball team he could end up having ownership in. Therefore, this move should solely be viewed as the Grizzlies star expanding his investment portfolio.