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If you鈥檙e a big basketball fan like me, you鈥檒l be glued to the TV tonight watching the Golden State Warriors take on the Toronto Raptors in the NBA playoffs. (You might be surprised at who I鈥檓 rooting for.)

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In honor of the big games, we took a shot at breaking down investment activities of the players off the court.聽Last fall, we did a story highlighting some of the sport鈥檚 more prolific investors. In this piece, we鈥檒l take a deeper dive into just what having an NBA player as a backer can do for a startup beyond the capital involved. But first, here’s a chart of some startups funded by NBA players, bother former and current.

In February, we covered how digital sports media startup had raised $23 million in a Series B round of funding led by . Former NBA Commissioner was an early investor and advisor in the company (putting money in the company’s seed round). Golden State Warriors player invested as part of the company’s Series A in early 2018 via his busy investment vehicle, . And then, invested (via his earlier this year. Other NBA-related investors include , , and and other non-NBA backers include and .

I talked to Overtime鈥檚 President and Co-Founder, 27-year-old , about how the involvement of so many NBA players came about. I also wondered what they brought to the table beyond their cash. But before we get there, let me explain a little more about what Overtime does.

Founded in late 2016 by and , the Brooklyn company has raised . The pair founded the company after observing 鈥渉ow larger, legacy media companies, such as ESPN, were struggling鈥� with who was tuning into the TV less and less 鈥渁nd consuming sports in a fundamentally different way.鈥�

So they created Overtime, which features about 25 to 30 sports-related shows across several platforms (which include YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter and Twitch) aimed at millennials and the GenZ generation. Weiner estimates the company鈥檚 programs get more than 600 million video views every month.

In terms of attracting NBA investors, Weiner told me each situation was a little different but with one common theme: 鈥淎ll of them were fans of Overtime before we even met them鈥�They saw what we were doing as the new wave of sports media and wanted to get involved. We didn鈥檛 have to have ten meetings for them to understand what we were doing. This is the world they live and breathe.鈥�

So how is having NBA players as investors helping the company grow? Well, for one, they can open a lot of doors, noted Weiner.

鈥淣BA players are very powerful people and investors,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e helped us make connections in music, fashion and all things tangential to sports. Some have created content with us.鈥�

In addition, their social clout has helped with exposure. Their posting or commenting on Instagram gives the company credibility, Weiner said.

鈥淎lso just, in general, getting their perspectives and opinions,鈥� he added. 鈥淎 lot of our content is based on working with athletes so they understand what athletes want and are interested in being a part of.鈥�

It鈥檚 not just sports-related startups that are attracting the interest of NBA players. I also talked with , the CEO of , which recently closed a $21.2 million that included participation from and Golden State Warriors point guard .

Founded in 2016, Toronto-based Snap Travel offers online hotel booking services over SMS, Facebook Messenger, Alexa, Google Home and Slack. It鈥檚 driven over $100 million in sales, according to Fazal, and is seeing its revenue grow about 35 percent quarter over quarter.

Like Weiner, Fazal told me that Curry鈥檚 being active on social media about Snap Travel, helped draw positive attention and 鈥渁dd a lot of legitimacy鈥� to his company.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e an end-consumer about to spend $1,000 on a hotel booking, you might be a little hesitant about trusting a newer brand like ours,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut if they go to our home page and see our investors, that holds some weight in the eyes of the public, and helps show we鈥檙e not a fly-by-night company.鈥�

Another way Curry鈥檚 involvement has helped Snap Travel is in terms of the recruitment and retainment of employees. Curry once spent hours at the office, meeting with employees and doing a Q&A.

鈥淚t was really cool,鈥� Fazal said. 鈥淎nd it helps us stand out from other startups when hiring.鈥�

Regardless of who wins the game tonight, it鈥檚 clear that startups with NBA investors on their team have a competitive advantage. (Still, Go Raptors!)

Photo details:聽Left to Right: Henry Shi, Stephen Curry, and Hussein Fazal. Courtesy of SnapTravel

Inside image: iStockPhoto / jamieroach