BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA – NOVEMBER 9: Flau’jae Johnson #4 of the LSU Tigers in action during a game against the Northwestern State Demons at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on November 9, 2024 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Kristen Young/LSU/Getty Images)
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Flau’jae Johnson has a lot going on at the moment.
The 21-year-old star basketball player, rapper, student and aspiring businesswoman has just inked her latest deal with the new women’s 3-on-3 basketball league Unrivaled.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Johnson will receive an equity stake in the league.
“I wanted to be involved in something that is pushing the women’s game forward,” Johnson told CNBC.
Unrivaled, which kicks off its inaugural season in January, looks to offer female athletes another option to play basketball in the U.S. during the WNBA offseason. In addition to giving players equity in the league, Unrivaled aims to offer the highest average salary in women’s pro sports league history. In October, the Unrivaled signed a broadcast deal with TNT Sports.
“When I heard about the money, that was big for me. … These women are getting paid what they deserve,” Johnson said.
NCAA rules prevent Johnson, a junior at Louisiana State University, from committing to play in the league until she turns professional. Unrivaled signed a similar deal with University of Connecticut star Paige Bueckers in August.
In addition to being a league owner, Johnson will collaborate with Unrivaled on content throughout the season, and the league plans to support her music.
Star power
In just two years playing college basketball, Johnson has become marketing gold.
She led LSU to the 2023 national championship and quickly became a top prospect for WNBA teams.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 18: JBL ambassador, basketball player and rapper Flau’jae Johnson sets the stage ablaze at JBL FEST to celebrate the launch of the JBL PartyBox series on May 18, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for JBL)
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Off the court, she’s not only marketable as an athlete but as a rapper. Johnson signed with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation in 2021 and released a song with Lil Wayne in June.
She also has more than 3.5 million followers across her Instagram, TikTok and Twitter accounts.
Brands have taken notice. Johnson has signed deals with companies from Meta, to Puma, Powerade, the Athlete’s Foot and Amazon.
On Tuesday, she made the Forbes “30 Under 30” list, which estimated her net worth at $7 million.
She’s also ranked No.1 by On3 as having the highest name, image and likeness, or NIL, valuation of college women’s basketball players.
Johnson said her mother currently handles her finances and she doesn’t really splurge on anything, but she spends a lot of money at Chipotle.
“I’m trying to get that Chipotle deal so I don’t spend all my money on bowls,” she joked.
Despite all her sports and extracurriculars, Johnson said she still takes time to learn about business whether it’s by meeting with CEOs, watching YouTube videos or studying, noting she’s reading “Investing 101” by Michele Cagan at the moment.
While the top rookie salary in the WNBA is $76,535, Johnson said she hasn’t decided yet when she’s going to enter the WNBA draft but she isn’t worried about her brand diminishing.
“NIL is big but it’s really just a gateway to the pros,” she said. “The opportunities that I get from college are still going to roll over and it’s not like my followers are going to disappear.”
When asked who she looks up to as a role model, Johnson says she looks to the King: LeBron James.
“He’s the ultimate businessman,” she said.
“The way that he leverages his business opportunities, the way he carries himself, and he’s done so many things [like building a school] to help other people,” she added.
With so many different balls in the air, Johnson said it takes discipline, consistency and time management to fit everything in.
“I don’t like sitting in the house watching Netflix. … I like getting stuff done,” she said.
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