Browns tight end Myles Garrett’s rare athleticism and outstanding performance has people focused on him as a 2023 Defensive Player of the Year candidate seven weeks from now.
Those same physical gifts translate to the basketball court, where Garrett has been known to break down the backboards from time to time. On Wednesday, Garrett broke through another boundary, investing some of the money from his five-year, $125 million contract into a stake in the National Basketball Association’s Cleveland Cavaliers.
Garrett bought a minority stake in the Cavaliers and joined an ownership group led by Cavaliers chairman and governor Dan Gilbert, who Garrett will also serve as a brand ambassador.
“I have admired the Cavaliers organization’s hard work, tenacity and dedication to the community since my early days in Cleveland,” Garrett said in a statement released by the Cavs on Wednesday. “Having the opportunity to join this exciting and meaningful franchise, led by Dan, is truly a dream come true.”
Garrett has engaged in cross-promotion with the Cavs in the past, even attend the team’s summer league game in 2022 in full uniform, participate in warm-ups with the crowd and throw down a two-handed dunk before the start of the game. He has not shirked to promote his basketball skillswho famously destroyed a backboard at a local gym, and had been seen participate in rec league home games before retiring unofficially from basketball under Browns tutelage.
Garrett has been a frequent attendee of Cavaliers games in the past, rooting for a home team that once featured future Hall of Famer LeBron James — a nasty athlete who has toyed with the idea of a football career in the past — and now includes youth. Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland star among others. He will have access to a prime seat as a minority investor in a team aiming to build on its first playoff appearance since James retired after the 2017-18 season.