Devin Booker, Chris Paul pursue NBA player empowerment in Mitchell & Ness investment group

Chris Paul and Devin Booker are leading the Phoenix Suns to the West's best record thus far this season.

They're also now boardroom leaders with several NBA All-Stars, a Hollywood celebrity and businessmen holding equity in one of sports' most popular apparel brands.

The Athletic reported on Oct. 25 that Booker and Paul have joined an investment group that bought a stake in Philadelphia-based Mitchell & Ness Nostalgia Co.

The group includes LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, James Harden, NBA Player's Association President and New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum, comedian Kevin Hart, NBA player agent Rich Paul, Durant's longtime manager and Thirty Five Ventures co-founder Rich Kleiman.

“I’m just trying to expand my portfolio and get involved with different things as part of being an entrepreneur,"  Booker said to The Republic following the Suns' home win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.

"Being fortunate enough to be in this situation where you have a lot of capital and you don’t want it to just sit. So it’s something I believe in, obviously a brand that I’ve known for a really long time and has a lot of history to it, and a great investment group. There are a lot of good people involved.”

Mitchell & Ness is a merchandiser of authentic retro jerseys, or throwbacks, of active and retired stars from all pro sports leagues such as the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB, and college sports legends.

“It’s just authentic. It’s true to the culture," Booker said. "When I come in with a Mitchell & Ness jersey with a snapback (hat), that’s a real thing. Culture is something that’s important to me, so it’s a layup.”

This investment group was brought in by Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin, who is a former part-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils before he sold his stakes in the teams in June.

Fanatics and another investment group that includes Grammy award-winning rappers JAY-Z and Lil Baby bought Mitchell & Ness in February. Fanatics' share is 75% worth an estimated $250 million, and the original investment group before Booker's and Paul's owns the remaining 25% of the company.

“It’s a legendary brand. Some guys in my locker room probably don’t remember the throwback era," Paul said to reporters following the Suns' win over the Houston Rockets on Sunday.

Paul referred to the urban fashion trend popularized by hip-hop artists, college and pro athletes during the 2000s when Mitchell & Ness dominated throwback apparel sales.

He added that not everyone in his Mitchell & Ness investment group communicated with each other before their latest business venture, but want to continue making similar deals in the future.

“Truth be told, it was more about (Michael) Rubin and his willingness to get us involved," Paul said. "It’s something we had talked about for a while. To shoot it to you straight, we play in this league, guys play for a long time and there’s so many things that we’re not allowed to do. Guys aren’t allowed to invest in businesses that the different governors of the team already have ownership in, which is tough because when you’re in this league it can be a very short, short amount of time.

"So you try to leverage your relationships that you have and things like that. So with Rubin divesting his ownership with the Sixers, him being willing to teach us and to talk and communicate to us about business and opportunities in life after basketball, I appreciate him more for that opportunity more than anything."

Read more: Chris Paul passes 21K-point milestone in Suns' win over Timberwolves

Player empowerment in NBA team transactions such as trade demands, mammoth deals in free agent signings and contract extensions has revolutionized the league over the past decade.

But Paul has been a staunch proponent of making player empowerment stronger in the expansion of the league's multi-billion dollar enterprise beyond the revenue they draw from playing games and endorsement deals.

Paul said when he played for the L.A. Clippers and was the NBPA president nearly 10 years ago he called NBA commissioner Adam Silver seeking progress for players to develop better business relationships with team ownership and the league’s front office, including figuring out circumvention of the salary cap.

“We want to continue to do things like that because this game has had the opportunity to grow tremendously since my rookie year, and now guys are going to be a part of the business of the game,"  Paul said.

"That’s something that’s the next thing the (players) union and the league gotta figure out is to not just allow us to be a part of the business when we’re done playing. Our leverage is right now as active players. That’s something we’re going to continue to have conversations about and fight for. We got a lot of smart players in this league who want to be involved in business and the different governors of the league, they got a thousand other businesses. It’s not like they are just on the team, so guys want to share in that.”

Read more: Phoenix Suns wing Cam Johnson hits 3s, asks opponents questions

When Booker and Paul were asked about their favorite Mitchell & Ness jerseys ever, they couldn't settle for just one.

“That’s tough,” Chris said. “The Alex English-Denver Nuggets was cold. I used to have the A.I.-Philly No. 3. I used to have the Randall Cunningham (Philadelphia Eagles jersey). I can do this all day.”

Like Paul, Booker said his first jersey was Allen Iverson’s all-white 76ers jersey, Derrick Rose’s red Bulls one from the first few years of his career, Steve Nash’s black and orange-trimmed Suns jersey with the sunburst logo from his first stint with the team from 1996 to 1998.

“I heard that (Rose jersey) is still best-selling in China and whatnot, so D-Rose is a legend," Booker said.

Have tips for us? Reach the reporter at dana.scott@azcentral.com or at 480-486-4721. Follow his Twitter @iam_DanaScott.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Booker, Paul join NBA All-Stars' Mitchell & Ness investment group