Russell Westbrook, #4 of the Denver Nuggets, dribbles the ball throughout the sport towards the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder throughout Spherical 2, Sport 1 of the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Paycom Heart in Oklahoma Metropolis, Oklahoma, on Could 5, 2025.
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Nationwide Basketball Affiliation celebrity Russell Westbrook is taking a shot off the courtroom at simplifying funeral planning with synthetic intelligence.
The famed Denver Nuggets level guard on Wednesday introduced the launch of Eazewell, a startup that makes use of AI know-how to streamline the method for coordinating funerals. Westbrook based the enterprise with former Charlotte Hornets star Kemba Walker and childhood good friend Donnell Beverly Jr., who serves as president of Russell Westbrook Enterprises and CEO and co-founder of Eazewell.
“My entire profession, on and off the courtroom, has been about stepping up decisively within the moments that matter most,” Westbrook wrote in an announcement to CNBC. Westbrook and the Nuggets are at the moment going through the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder within the NBA Western Convention semifinals. “Eazewell is strictly that — a decisive answer to a really actual downside.”
The Los Angeles-based firm makes use of AI to curate funeral choices catered to every person’s budgets and preferences. The platform assists with paperwork, finances planning, invites and missed duties comparable to canceling a deceased beloved one’s utility payments and social media accounts. Eazewell at the moment has 11 workers and has already examined its beta platform with greater than 1,000 households.
Eazewell has not disclosed funding however has income agreements with companion providers. The startup can also be engaged on partnerships with finance and life insurance coverage firms within the area. The service is free to make use of and doesn’t have an adverts element “at this stage,” an organization spokesperson mentioned.
“We’re attempting to take the load off individuals’s shoulders as a lot as we are able to, and make this course of a lot simpler for individuals,” Walker informed CNBC in a cellphone interview. Walker performed school basketball with Beverly on the College of Connecticut.
From left to proper: Donnell Beverly Jr., Kemba Walker, Donnell Beverly (Donnell’s dad, now deceased) and Russell Westbrook at Donnell’s mother’s funeral.
Donnell Beverly Jr.
Studying from an early loss
Eazewell traces its origins to Westbrook and Beverly’s highschool days, when their good friend and basketball teammate Khelcey Barrs III handed away unexpectedly from an enlarged coronary heart. Westbrook commemorates Barrs to this present day by carrying a bracelet with the initials “KB3” in each NBA sport he performs and on his signature Jordan Why Not Zer0.6 “Khelcey Barrs” shoe.
“It is a reminder that life can change immediately,” Westbrook mentioned. “You aren’t getting to decide on the second, however you do get to decide on the way you reply.”
The expertise left an enduring impact on the 2 buddies, Beverly mentioned, however it wasn’t till the demise of Beverly’s mother and father that he skilled funeral planning hurdles firsthand. Beverly mentioned the expertise was “messy” and “grueling.”
Disillusioned and annoyed by the method after the demise of his mom and father in 2016 and 2023, respectively, Beverly turned to his shut buddies to give you the answer that grew to become Eazewell.
“It simply looks like the right time to essentially flip our shared ache into function,” Beverly mentioned.
Kemba Walker, then #15 of the Charlotte Hornets, in motion towards the Miami Warmth at American Airways Area in Miami, Florida, on March 17, 2019.
Mark Brown | Getty Pictures
One in all Eazewell’s most progressive options is its voice-activated AI agent that may collect price quotes and name funeral properties on a person’s behalf.
Current developments in AI have solely just lately made it attainable to automate duties and create brokers that may handle these jobs in an empathetic and compassionate method, mentioned Viviane Ghaderi, Eazewell’s tech chief and a former Amazon govt.
Stephen Stokols, an Eazewell investor and CEO of Tru Skye Ventures, an early-stage sports activities know-how and wellness enterprise agency, mentioned these “transformational” AI developments serving to convey the funeral trade out of the “darkish ages” initially drew him to the mission.
Walker mentioned he hopes Eazewell can provide customers the instruments to navigate a subject that’s not taught at school or adolescence.
“We all know how vital it’s to have somebody by your aspect to assist with the main points that come after a loss,” Westbrook mentioned.
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