Meyers Leonard of the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers recently invested in FaZe Clan. The 27-year-old center first hinted at a possible partnership in their match against the Los Angeles Lakers on April 10. The player wore custom LeBron 16 sneakers with the FaZe Clan logo and in their signature colors. The sneakers were made by the well-known shoe designer Kickstradomis.
Custom @FaZeClan LeBron 16s by @Kickstradomis for @MeyersLeonard11 tonight in LA pic.twitter.com/mouaTNFXOS
— Casey Holdahl (@CHold) April 10, 2019
He has previously shown his allegiance to FaZe by watching their streams. He was even seen wearing the jersey of Brendan “Jaomock” O’Brien, FaZe’s professional Fortnite player. A post with a picture of him wearing the jersey on Twitter confirmed their partnership.
HAMMER x FAZE 🔥🔨 pic.twitter.com/BOWBLHLVGs
— Meyers Leonard (@MeyersLeonard) January 17, 2019
Leonard later officially announced the investment on LinkedIn and Twitter, where he posted a photo of himself in a FaZe jersey. The player noted he only invests in something he is incredibly passionate about. He also added that the investment represents a belief in the potential of esports.
In addition, he justified the sneakers as “always looking for innovating ways to cut through the noise.”
On Thursday, Leonard held an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on the official NBA subreddit. The 27-year-old told us he always loved watching FaZe streamers. He further said that he is excited to do content creation with them in the summer.
Prior to the investment, Leonard sometimes streamed himself playing Fortnite. His channel on Twitch has just shy of 30,000 total views as of the time of writing this article.
Oddly enough, FaZe haven’t confirmed the announcement themselves. TEO asked them to comment on the matter, but they haven’t responded at the time of writing this article.
FaZe Clan are one of the premier esports organizations, finding their roots in content creation for games like Call of Duty. They currently have teams in most major FPS esports, including Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Fortnite, and others.
Leonard has been with the Blazers since 2012 after they drafted him as the 11th overall pick. He has been their backup centre for a while but might see more playing time in the playoffs with the absence of Jusuf Nurkic. The Portland Trail Blazers will be playing the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs, starting April 14.
