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Welcome to this week’s edition of The Baseline!

Every Wednesday, I break down the blueprint for basketball culture.

This 3-minute read shares the latest marketing and creator insights across the industry.

Let’s jump right into it…

INSIGHTS BLUEPRINT

This isn’t just any sports hoodie, but it might be Gatorade’s most genius concept yet.

The best brand ideas aren't deeply buried in research; they're hiding in plain sight.

For decades, athletes have draped Gatorade towels over their heads during workouts, games, and even championship celebrations.

Gatorade transformed this athlete ritual into a unique product with their own towel-inspired hoodie.

This towel-hoodie isn't available for sale yet, but it could be the start of an entirely new merchandise line.

This exclusive Gatorade hoodie represents intensity, sweat, and greatness.

Gatorade has already created exclusive versions of this product for Kendrick Lamar, Caitlin Clark, Lisa Leslie, JuJu Watkins, RDC World, and even GloRilla during her recent WNBA All-Star performance.

For Gatorade, this isn't just merch but brand storytelling that every athlete can wear.

Whether you're on the sidelines in winter sports or sweating it out during summer training, this is the blueprint for turning a sideline symbol into a product that represents your brand’s greatness.

FREE THROWS

Sharing the tools and resources that I’m using this week:

📥 Reacher - Grow your TikTok shop with the leading AI platform to automate and scale your creator outreach and affiliate relationships.

💡 LinkedIn Content - Use these LinkedIn post ideas by Courtney Johnson, featuring 30 personal brand plays, 30 engagement starters, and 30 authority moves to attract opportunities.

🤖 Poppy AI - This AI tool acts as your personal whiteboard, simultaneously processing YouTube videos, voice notes, and images. It helps content creators, founders, and marketers quickly produce viral content and ads.

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FAST BREAK

Here’s what you missed this week:

👟 Puma Basketball and Tyrese Haliburton announced the official release date for the Hali 1 “Opal” sneaker, available on September 26. There will also be a one-day pop-up shop in partnership with Foot Locker in Indianapolis.

🏆 Paige Bueckers was announced as a 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year and her brand partners Nike Basketball and Gatorade celebrated the moment with custom graphics.

🧱 Nike introduces a new Lego collaboration with A’ja Wilson and a new mini show called "Clicked In."

📈 The Golden State Valkyries set WNBA records in their inaugural season by selling out all 22 home games. Across the league, the WNBA has already broken its single-season attendance record.

👏 Victor Wembanyama got the San Antonio Spurs to introduce a new “Supporter Section” for team superfans, inspired by European soccer and basketball clubs.

2️⃣ A week after securing their Series B round, Unrivaled added two new teams to their league, expanding from eight to twelve, with additional new roster spots available for their upcoming season.

🥛 Skyler Diggins walked through the WNBA tunnel wearing a puffer jacket created with 422 grams of protein from real dairy milk as part of a new partnership campaign with Gonna Need Milk.

🏀 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was just announced as the new face of YSL Beauty, as the brand partners with a rising force redefining authenticity on and off the court.

👻 Ghostwrite, the new collectible start-up by former StockX co-founder Josh Luber, introduces its new officially licensed NBA Game Face collection.

📊 HoopHype conducted research on the most worn shoes among NBA players in the 2024-2025 season, and the Kobe 6 ranked number one, significantly ahead of the second most popular shoe.

POST-GAME

Thanks for reading—I’ll see you back here next week!

And if you enjoyed reading today’s newsletter, please share it with one friend.

- Jeff Chen | 🏀💡👨🏻‍💻