Athletes Who Own Cannabis Brands: From Carmelo Anthony to Ricky Williams

Professional athletes have always shaped American culture, but for most of modern sports history they had to hide their relationship with cannabis. Failed drug tests cost contracts, championships, and Hall of Fame plaques. In the last decade that has flipped. Athletes are now founding cannabis brands, investing in cannabis companies, advocating for policy reform, and openly talking about how cannabis fits into recovery, sleep, and mental health.

In New York, this story is especially loud. Two former Knicks — Carmelo Anthony and Iman Shumpert — have launched cannabis brands that sell on the licensed adult-use market. They sit inside a wider movement that includes NBA legends like Allen Iverson and Al Harrington, NFL stars like Ricky Williams and Calvin Johnson, boxing icon Mike Tyson, and active players like CJ McCollum who advocate from inside the locker room. This guide breaks down who is doing what, why it matters, and what it means for cannabis culture going forward.

For a deeper look at the New York chapter of this story, read our companion piece on former Knicks stars Carmelo Anthony and Iman Shumpert building cannabis brands.

Three forces converged to make athlete-owned cannabis brands possible. First, the policy environment changed. The NBA removed cannabis from its banned substances list in 2023. MLB did the same in 2019. The NFL raised testing thresholds and softened penalties. For the first time in decades, active and retired professional athletes can publicly associate with a cannabis brand without ending their careers.

Second, the market matured. Legal cannabis is now a multi-billion-dollar industry across more than 20 adult-use states, including New York. That created real businesses to build, real capital to deploy, and real retail shelves to win — not just a counter-cultural cause to support. Athletes who already have brand equity, distribution relationships, and capital are perfectly positioned to compete.

Third, athletes wanted to be honest. Many of the founders profiled here used cannabis throughout their playing careers for sleep, recovery, anxiety, and pain. Building a brand is a way to turn private experience into public business — and, for many, a way to push back against the racial inequities of the war on drugs that disproportionately punished Black athletes and Black communities.

One of the most important shifts in the last few years has been the framing of cannabis as a recovery tool. Retired NBA and NFL players have publicly described using THC and CBD products for chronic pain, sleep, and as alternatives to opioids prescribed after surgery. That conversation accelerated when the NBPA and the league agreed to remove cannabis from the banned substances list — a direct response to player advocacy led by figures like CJ McCollum.

Calvin Johnson's Primitiv took the wellness framing the furthest by funding a research partnership with Harvard to study cannabinoid therapy for retired athletes and chronic pain. Al Harrington's Viola has long focused on responsible cannabis use for recovery and sleep. The takeaway: athlete-owned brands are not just lifestyle plays. They are increasingly anchored in the science and lived experience of what cannabis can do for the body.

Not every athlete launches their own brand. Many of the biggest names in sports prefer to invest. Kevin Durant's Thirty Five Ventures was an early backer of Weedmaps. Joe Montana has invested through Liquid 2 Ventures. Roger Goodell era NFL agents and union leaders have helped shape the policy framework that lets active players touch the category at all.

Investment matters because it moves capital into licensed operators, brands, and ancillary cannabis technology. It also signals to institutional investors that cannabis is a serious category — not a fringe one. That capital flow is part of what made it possible for retail-ready athlete brands like STAYME7O, TSA APPROVED, Tyson 2.0, and Highsman to launch with real distribution behind them.

The next chapter is already being written. Expect to see more active players associated with brands as league rules continue to relax. Expect more research partnerships like Primitiv-Harvard. Expect more crossover between athlete-owned brands and music, fashion, and media — Iman Shumpert's TSA APPROVED is a direct example of that blend.

For New York consumers, the practical upshot is that the licensed shelf is going to keep getting more interesting. Athlete-led brands compete on storytelling, on cultural credibility, and increasingly on product quality. Good Grades will keep covering who is launching what, what is actually worth buying, and how athlete brands fit into the broader New York cannabis story.