Nike finally gets involved in one of the fastest-growing global sports. Is it too late?

Nike is finally getting into the pickleball game — but is it too little, too late?

Nike’s

NKE wait-and-see approach to the fast-growing paddle sport that blends tennis, badminton and ping-pong is changing, after the company made No. 1-ranked pickleball player Anna Leigh Waters the first professional pickleball player to join its roster of sponsored athletes earlier this week. Waters will serve as a global pickleball ambassador for the sports-apparel giant.