After retiring from the NBA and starting a chicken business on August 21, 2023, a former teammate of LeBron James’s who played in the league for 14 years and went unrecognizable has been forgotten.
Drew Gooden was able to have a career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) that lasted for 14 years and included four of those years spent playing alongside LeBron James.
After having such a great career in the business world, the former NBA power forward is now 41 years old and is considered to be unrecognizable in retirement.
Drew Gooden was a member of the National Basketball Association (NBA) for a total of 14 seasons, four of which were spent playing with LeBron James.Image courtesy of Getty
During his career, Gooden was a member of ten different teams.Image courtesy of Getty
Gooden took his retirement in 2016, yet he has continued to be an entrepreneur in the business world. Credit: Getty Images
In the 2002 NBA Draft, the Memphis Grizzlies selected Gooden with the fourth overall choice. He would go on to play for the team.
With a height of 6 feet 10 inches and a weight of 250 pounds, he played perhaps his best basketball with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2004 through 2007 with LeBron James.
Gooden had at least 10 points and eight rebounds a game in each of his four seasons, with 2004 being the year when he averaged a career-high 14.4 points per game.
The native of Kansas advanced to the postseason with James in each of his seasons with the team.
However, in 2007, the Ca’s decided to trade Gooden to the Chicago Bulls.
Before he finally retired in 2016, he played for a total of five different teams during the course of his career.
After his career, Gooden finished with a total of 8,653 points, 5,618 rebounds, and 474 locks.
However, Gooden started working on his career outside of basketball in 2012, which was four years before he officially retired from the sport.
The former NBA player had an interest in the food sector, which was a field that he was fairly familiar with.
To be more specific, Gooden intended to compete in the chicken wings and quick-serve ice cream businesses.
He sought out to former NBA players who have now transitioned into successful businessmen, Junior Bridgeman and Jamaal Mashurn, to learn from them.
And then in 2012, Gooden would establish his first Wingstop in the city of Altamonte Springs in the state of Florida.
The native of Oakland, California, claims that his love for Wingstop was a factor in his decision to partner with the restaurant for his first venture into the world of business.
“As a customer, I fell in love with the restaurant; there was something about it that drew me in,” Gooden recalled. “It was something that pulled me in.”
“You always hear the terrifying tales of opening a restaurant, and the statistics of how successful they are,” she said.
“Therefore, given the circumstances under which I found myself, I reasoned that I could ‘eat the odds.'”
Gooden, who is now retired, is in the process of negotiating to purchase an additional four Wingstop sites.
Additionally, he is the owner of commercial real estate in the Bahamas, the Napa Valley in California, and the southeast of the United States.
As Gooden played for the Washington Wizards for the last three seasons of his career, he is presently working as a commentator for the local NBC sports station WRC in the city of Washington.
After graduating with a degree in communications from his alma mater, the University of Kansas, in 2016, he is now enrolled in an executive education program at Columbia University.
Drew Gooden played in the NBA for 14 seasons — and he was LeBron Jaмes’ teaммate for four of those yearsCredit: Getty
Gooden played for 10 teaмs in his careerCredit: Getty
Gooden retired in 2016 and has continued to Ƅe a Ƅusiness entrepreneurCredit: Getty
He’d haʋe spells with fiʋe other teaмs Ƅefore his eʋentual retireмent in 2016.
The Oakland, California, natiʋe Ƅelieʋes his loʋe for Wingstop is why he decided to go with the chain for his first Ƅusiness endeaʋor.