OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) — NBA greats Jaylen Brown and Jason Kidd are coming to Oakland to play, but not on the basketball courts they are known for. The two NBA All-Stars, with ties to Oakland, are launching a new initiative to invest in Oakland called the Oakland XChange.
“Today was a great day to commence. Being able to identify the next location. And be able to have collective people of influence show up here,” says Brown, who just won the NBA championship with the Boston Celtics. He also played college ball at Cal and calls Oakland his “second home.”
Brown recently launched the Boston XChange, which aims to address the wealth imbalance by creating a Black Wall Street in Boston. He’s teaming with Kidd do the same in Oakland.
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“(Brown) did the championship on the court, but we can also win championships off the floor. And I am here to support that,” says Kidd who grew up in Oakland, played at Cal and went on to become an NBA All-Star.
Kidd says Oakland already has the talent and the mentors to make this a success. But the argument is the Black businesses are too often over-mentored yet underfunded. They believe this injection of working capital is the missing piece.
They anticipate an initial investment of millions of dollars. That will fund a series of projects aimed at creating generational wealth such as business incubators, programs to launch local artists and musicians, and to purchase property in places like downtown Oakland.
“What they can fund is the acquisition of real estate assets, which brings the cost of space down significantly by owning those assets. Also allows us to invest in those spaces knowing they will be in the community in perpetuity,” explains Trevor Parham, founder of Oakstop, one of the partners in Oakland Xchange.
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Oakland City Councilmember Carroll Fife, who represents downtown Oakland, says this type of project is critical right now when the city doesn’t have the resources and businesses are leaving.
“This injection, this support, this investment is a game changer for – not just the entire city, but economic hub of the city, which is District 3,” says Fife.
Brown says this won’t happen overnight. It’ll take time to attract investors and identify investments. But he says the work is underway.
“It’s not about starting anything new. I think there are a lot of great things that are already going on in Oakland. Rich history, tradition, entrepreneurship, so it is not like I got to come here and start something that ain’t been done already,” says Brown.
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