Basketball's King apparently has the Midas Touch when it comes to pickleball too ... 'cause Major League Pickleball founder Steve Kuhn tells TMZ Sports LeBron James' recent investment in the league brought BILLIONS of eyeballs to the sport!!!
LBJ -- alongside Kevin Love and Draymond Green -- bought a team in the MLP back in Sept. 2022 ... and Kuhn tells us immediately afterward, interest in the org. absolutely exploded.
"This year, stories about Major League Pickleball hit 11 billion eyeballs," Kuhn said, "and the LeBron announcement alone was four billion."
Of course, the sport had been on the rise even before LeBron got involved ... the unique, tennis-like game is widely considered the fastest-growing activity in America.
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And, while LeBron's inclusion in the action was huge for the league ... he's hardly the only sports superstar to jump into the mix. Everyone from Tom Brady to Drew Brees to Patrick Mahomes, Naomi Osaka and Kevin Durant have bought into the MLP as well.
Even LeBron's best buddy, Rich Paul, is an investor -- and he told us earlier this month he could see it all eventually becoming a huge deal in the U.S.
As for if the NBA and NFL players would ever get ON the pickleball court ... Kuhn -- like the rest of us -- is hoping that happens soon.
"We're working on that!" he said.