Before Puka Nacua gave Davante Adams his No. 17, the young wide receiver joked about deciding the matter on a court in a game of PIG. Then Nacua said one of the reasons he wants to retire at 30 is to have five children so he can have his own basketball team.
Nacua, a diehard Lakers fan since childhood, wasn’t expected in Dallas on Wednesday night as the team looked to clinch a playoff berth in Luka Dončić’s return to meet his former team. But the wide receiver routinely attends Lakers home games and even has the jersey Dončić wore in his Lakers debut.
So don’t be surprised that Nacua now wants to start his own basketball league. This week, the Pro Bowler told Julian Edelman about his post-retirement plans.
“I want to go play overseas basketball,” Nacua told the former Super Bowl MVP on the Games with Names podcast. “I’m sure I could go to another country that only 25 percent of the world’s ever heard before, get ownership in the team, and get 25 shots up a night.
“I’m going to be the coach, I’m going to sub my own minutes, and then I’m going to make sure that we’re getting ticket sales at the end of it … try to work some actual business.”
While most have heard of all seven countries, Nacua would be wise to lean on the Rams for help. The team owns global marketing rights in seven countries, tied with the Chiefs for most in the NFL. The team’s empire includes Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates, newly awarded last month.
And those ticket sales figure to go well in Japan, where the Rams have plenty of connections. Adams was there when Sean McVay recruited the free agent this offseason. Quentin Lake was there when the Dodgers opened the MLB season last month in Tokyo.
Ideally, though, Nacua wouldn’t have to leave Los Angeles.
“After we win that Super Bowl, hopefully it’ll be a done deal,” he said. “Then, there’s no questions about it. Like, they want me to stay here, make L.A. my home.”