Pickleball has found itself in something of a pickle. Its two biggest professional leagues have declared all-out war on one another, leaving fans wondering if the sport can survive this division within its ranks. Players are being forced to take sides and millions of dollars are at stake. Not since the East Coast-West Coast hip hop feud of the 90’s has a rivalry loomed so large in the public consciousness.
“I’m not saying this to be conceited, but usually when I call someone in pickleball they call me back,” Connor Pardoe, one of Pickleball’s biggest ballers, told Yahoo Sports. He’s the founder of the Professional Pickleballers Association. The gentleman not returning his calls would be Major League Pickleballs owner and billionaire Steve Kuhn.
We had a truce, but you was only stallin’
Since last November, an uneasy truce has reigned in the world of professional pickleball with players allowed to compete in both leagues. All that ended when Kuhn started recruiting pickleball’s top talent and offering million dollar contracts to the game’s biggest stars, household names like Tyson McGuffin.
It’s all a game until the bodies start fallin’
Both sides agree, a pickleball war isn’t good for anybody. But when so much money and power is on the line, the temptation to assert who has the biggest pickle gets in the way of peace and prosperity for all. Pardoe still holds onto hope, “We gave clarity to TV networks. We gave clarity to sponsors. We were able to put the Wild Wild West to bed. We had a tour where the best players played.…If I could bring that back, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
If there is something 