The life of an NBA athlete is a glamourous one, to say the least. But, to say that their stardom is short-lived and vanishes after they retire, is plain wrong. It's not like you won't recognize LeBron James after he retires, right?

But, when an athlete chooses to start a business instead of just living off past fame and glory, it is commendable. Here are four NBA stars who ruled the basketball court for years and then went on to become successful entrepreneurs as well as the ones who rule the court today and are already successful entrepreneurs:

When Michael is on a list, you have no option but to start with him. One of the greatest NBA players in history, Jordan made quite a name for himself off the court as well. He was among the first athletes to become a billionaire.

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Currently, he is the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets with an investment worth more than $400 million today. And, we all know about Air Jordans. No points for guessing which NBA athlete was involved there.

If your name has 'magic' in it, you better use it to create a multimillion dollar enterprise. That's exactly what Magic Johnson Enterprises is. An investment company that has owned stakes in multiple well-known businesses over the years including Starbucks, T.G.I. Friday's, Burger King, Sodexo and even the LA Lakers.

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Through his company, Magic is rumoured to serve more than 32 million customers on a yearly basis. His company is worth over $1 billion, allegedly. There's no way he got so far without a little “Magic”!

King James needs no introduction. If you've followed the NBA at any point in the last few years, you know who he is. LeBron is currently worth over $400 million and counting.

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He owns an investment company, LRMR Marketing, which he set up with the help of Warren Buffett. Let's just say he chose the right man to go to for help. He even has a media company called Uninterrupted with over 200,000 subscribers on YouTube already.

There's only one NBA athlete who can boast about investing in Google before it went public - Big Shaq. He was an aggressive force on the court, but off the court, he made sure every single decision was calm and calculated.

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He also owns a stake in Muscle Milk and Vitamin Water. He never invests in a company without conducting the necessary research first. Let's just say, he lets nothing slip by!