Nowadays, it is quite common to see successful athletes from all sports, including the NBA, dive into other investments. After all, they cannot play professionally for a long time (except for Cristiano Ronaldo and LeBron James), but for most other athletes, their professional careers are short-lived.
In other words, they should find a good investment opportunity that will keep the money flowing for a long time. Many NBA athletes hire financial advisors to advise them on how to invest their money, but some of them decide to pursue their passion: horse racing.
Yes, don’t act surprised, there are many NBA athletes who are interested in horse racing. After all, horse racing is the sport of the people and one of the oldest sports in the world. Plus, it is exciting and can be quite lucrative if you make the right investment.
This means that there are plenty of both active and retired NBA players who have already invested in racehorses and purchased Thoroughbreds.
Who are they? Let’s find out.
Nikola Jokić
There isn’t anyone like Jokić whichever angle you look at this athlete. He shoots 3-pointers casually from every place on the court, was the Denver Nuggets’ three-time MVP (2021, 2022, 2024) and 2023 NBA champion, and always looks at basketball as a job, not as his passion.
Did you know that he quickly abandoned his team after becoming an NBA champion to go see a race in his local town? – That speaks a lot about his passion for horses.
He said many times that he loves horse racing, which is quite explainable since he grew up in Sombor, Serbia, where his dad got him into horse racing.
In his rookie year in the NBA, he immediately bought his first racehorse called Dream Catcher, and ever since his success in the league, he bought half a dozen Standardbreds.
Jokić told SLAM Magazine in 2016, “At some point in my life, I started to go into horse racing,” and he’s since named horses like Brenno Laumar after friends. Who knows, maybe in the future we will see his horses at the Kentucky Derby. With his passion and dedication, his horses will definitely be included in the best bets for horse racing in whichever race he participates in.
At the moment, all of his horses are in Serbia, and he usually invests in standardbreds, but this doesn’t mean that he won’t go international after retiring from the NBA and get into thoroughbreds.
One thing is clear, there is no room for him becoming a jockey – he is too tall and heavy. But he will be a great racehorse owner, that’s for sure.
Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan has become more of an entrepreneur than a basketball star. We all know him as a businessman, but few people know that apart from deals with Nike and other brands, he also dove into horse racing.
He co-owns Thoroughbreds through Team Valor International. His standout horse, Knicks Go—named with a nod to his Knicks rivalry—won the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Classic and earned Horse of the Year honors, banking over $8.5 million.
Jordan’s been a Kentucky Derby fan, attending the 132nd and 133rd runnings, although we haven’t seen him since (he is definitely watching from home).
Tony Parker
When it comes to transitioning form the NBA to professional racehorse ownership, nobody does it better than Tony Parker. Most athletes have either co-owned a horse or invested in one just because they were advised to do so.
But that’s not the case with the four-time champion point guard, who founded Infinity Nine Horses, which is a thoroughbred stable. He has also made some big moves in European racing.
His filly Ramatuelle, trained by Christopher Head, has competed in top-tier races like France’s Prix de Diane. Parker’s been spotted at tracks worldwide, from Longchamp to Gulfstream, and he also released a documentary called The Big Bet, which covers his horse racing life after the NBA.
Rashard Lewis
Rashard Lewis, a sharpshooting forward who won the 2013 NBA Finals with the Miami Heat, took his competitive edge to the racetrack. He became a racehorse owner in the 2010s, with his standout, Cigar Street, racing in the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic and winning the Skip Away Stakes.
Lewis, who logged 11,330 career points, got hooked after visiting tracks with friends. His involvement’s been quieter lately—no 2025 updates on new horses—but his early success shows how NBA stars can score off-court wins in racing.
Rex Chapman
Rex Chapman, a 12-year NBA vet known for his Phoenix Suns days, grew up steeped in Kentucky’s horse culture. After retiring in 2000 with 9,731 points, he invested in Thoroughbreds, a natural pivot from his Bowling Green roots near Churchill Downs. Santa Anita named the Rex Chapman Stakes after him in 2012, honoring his ownership.
Chapman admitted to past struggles in 2023, but now he’s a Derby regular—more fan than gambler—cheering horses he’s backed. His love’s deep and local.
Who’d known that so many NBA athletes have a secret (or not-so-secret) passion for horse racing? This shows that horse racing is a sport that knows no boundaries, and if this trend continues, we will see more NBA athletes becoming racehorse owners.