A sport created by a one-time U.S. congressman from Washington state has gone major league.
Pickleball has exploded in popularity around the nation and some professional sports icons are getting in on the action.
Major League Pickleball has announced that NBA champions LeBron James, Draymond Green and Kevin Love are part of a new team ownership group.
The league is also expanding from 12 to 16 teams from across the country in 2023 and they will compete in six tournaments for a purse of $2 million.
Former NFL quarterback Drew Brees is also among investors.
Joel Pritchard, who served in the U.S. House and as Washington Lt. Governor. invented the game with a couple of friends at his home on Bainbridge Island in 1965.
They were fighting off boredom and devised the game using a whiffle ball and pieces of an incomplete badminton set.