Steph Curry is becoming a media mogul. David Beckham and the big bucks. Marcel Reece and his Olympic homecoming. Welcome back to The Closeout. Let's get into it.

When it's time to hang up the jersey, take one last look around Chase Center, and call it a career, most athletes get remembered for what they did between the lines. The four championships. The two MVPs. The unanimous vote in 2016. Curry has known for a while that the second act has to start before the first one ends. Last week, his production company Unanimous Media announced a joint venture with Hard Carry Media, run by Bryan Smiley, the former President and Chief Content Officer of Kevin Hart's Hartbeat. The goal: a creator-led sports platform for YouTube and TikTok. First slate: NIL college basketball players.

Unanimous isn't an indie production company anymore. A Sony animated box-office hit in Goat. Premium streaming series on Prime and Peacock in Allen Iv3rson and Mr. Throwback. An Apple TV doc in Stephen Curry: Underrated. A New York Times bestseller in Shot Ready. A Sundance Grand Jury Prize this January for a short film he co-directed. A global talent deal with NBCUniversal. He's done all of this while averaging 26 points a game for the Warriors at 37 years old. The kid Virginia Tech offered a walk-on spot is going down as the greatest shooter in the sport's history and the most complete media operator in the game.

What's new is the audience: Hard Carry is three months old and already owns Full Squad, a Gen Z YouTube operator with 11 billion+ lifetime views. The first programs target NIL athletes, the generation that arrived at college already monetizing their image.

Curry isn't extending his own brand. He's building the infrastructure for the kids who never needed a brand-building deal because they had one in high school. LeBron has SpringHill. Brady has Shadow Lion. Curry has the most format-complete stack of any athlete in the game, and he's pointing it at the next generation before his own career ends.

Hang it in the rafters.

A$AP Rocky keeps building his PUMA design portfolio with the 3D-printed Mostro Mule, his latest under a multi-year creative director run. Eyes are on what shoe brand Rihanna chooses next.

David Beckham is now Britain's first billionaire sportsman. The plays: Inter Miami CF (now MLS's most valuable club), DRJB Holdings, Victoria Beckham’s fashion business. Retirement doesn’t mean you stop working.

Cristiano Ronaldo is diving deeper into media after acquiring a stake in LiveModeTV, a free YouTube-based soccer platform streaming 34 FIFA World Cup matches in 2026. Appearances ≠ Ownership. Ronaldo wants both at 41.

Tom Brady's Shadow Lion launched Chasers, a YouTube trading-card trivia show, on May 20. Brady's production company has been at it since 2017. Add this one to the list of athlete-owned production houses continuing to scale.

Scott Coker might be putting UFC on notice for the third time, after raising $60M for a new MMA league set to launch in 2027. This time, the cross-sport ownership capital is real: Tony Hawk, Steve Kaplan (owner of D.C. United), and several NFL and NBA owners. Third time's a charm.

Once nicknamed the "Matchup Nightmare," Marcel Reece’s path to the NFL was not an easy one. Born in Inglewood, raised in Hesperia, all-league in three sports at his high school. Undrafted in 2008 despite running a 4.4 40, signed and cut by Miami, eventually landing with Oakland. How he had the motivation to keep playing at all was a feat in itself. To be named to four consecutive Pro Bowls as a fullback? That deserves to be studied.

After a 9-season NFL career, well past the league average, Reece held various front office positions with the Raiders before transitioning to a space few thought would ever reach the biggest stage: flag football. Ahead of the 2028 Olympics, where the sport makes its Games debut in Los Angeles, Reece was named SVP of Football Strategy and Operations for USA Football, the governing body for flag football. The kid from Inglewood is coming back home, this time to help shape the sport's defining moment on the biggest stage.

Most athletes who play at the highest level go into coaching or stay in front office roles until the next opportunity comes calling. Reece saw a lane that wasn't being traveled and went pedal to the metal. NFL and NBA stars are bypassing the traditional pro pipeline. John Wall picked an HBCU. Reece picked the Olympics, in his backyard. Welcome home, Reece.

Fear of God is reshaping how MLB apparel is perceived in the apparel game. In April, founder Jerry Lorenzo dropped the first piece of his multi-year MLB partnership: an "April 15" capsule with the Jackie Robinson Estate and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, aligned with Jackie Robinson Day. Five weeks later, he delivers the wider MLB Essentials Spring 2026 collection with the Dodgers, Yankees, Astros, and Cooperstown. Fear of God joins KITH in making licensed league apparel a part of streetwear's luxury tier. Not many brands can say they landed Jackie Robinson Day first.

Serial entrepreneur Mike Repole talks about his philosophy on evaluating business opportunities, breathing life (or money, rather) into St. John's basketball, and his relationship with Tom Brady. He's sold not one but TWO beverage companies to Coca-Cola (Vitaminwater and BodyArmor), despite swearing off the industry after the first exit. His framework: "If something has a 99% chance of succeeding, I don't want anything to do with it."

Give me the 1% success rate challenge all day.