Johns ’ taste in music is unusual for his age . “ I like late ‘ 70s and early ‘ 80s classic rock ,” he says . “ My favorite artist is Fleetwood Mac . I like tons of songs from them . I also have a considerable amount of Taylor Swift on my playlist .”
There is one person he idolizes and wants to meet : Tesla CEO and billionaire Elon Musk . “ I know maybe some of his ideas seem crazy to people , but he has a knack for getting things done , so I admire that ,” Johns explains . “ You need people with crazy ideas to do crazy things .”
When asked if he would go up in space in one of Musk ’ s rockets , Johns replied , “ If Elon invited me to do almost anything , I would do it .” He drives a 2021 Tesla S and thinks electric cars will continue to get “ more efficient , cheaper , and more predominant .”
Johns adds , “ I like entrepreneurship ; I like people who are entrepreneurs .” He is one himself . He co-owns three companies : Pickleball 360 , an instructional video subscription service ; Pickleball Getaways , which provides
BEN SIGNS AUTOGRAPHS AT THE 2024 STRATUSPHERE GIN VIRGINIA BEACH CUP . PHOTO BY CARVANA PPA TOUR .
vacations with pickleball instruction ; and Johns Design & Consulting , which designs and plans pickleball courts . Being into cryptocurrency , Johns chose to be paid a portion of his nearly $ 10,000 in prize money in Ethereum when he won the PPA Tour ’ s Orange County Cup in 2023 . He was the first pickleball player to be paid that way .
Johns turns 26 in March and says that as he gets older , he will play in more promotional pickleball events rather than competitive tournaments .
And there ’ s no doubt that Ben Johns will always be thinking about his next moves , off the pickleball court as well as on it . •
HANNAH JOHNS , TV REPORTER FOR THE PROFESSIONAL PICKLEBALL ASSOCIATION ( PPA ) TOUR , INTERVIEWS BROTHERS COLLIN ( RIGHT ) AND BEN POST-MATCH . PHOTO BY CARVANA PPA TOUR .
Matthew Schwartz spent 40 years in television news and won more than 200 awards , including four Emmys and four Edward R . Murrow awards for investigative reporting . His 2020 memoir , “ Confessions of an Investigative Reporter ,” was an Amazon # 1 bestseller . He writes a weekly blog for Hudef Sport and plays pickleball every day .
32 TO SUBSCRIBE , CALL 412.914.8294 OR GO TO PICKLEBALLMAGAZINE . COM