In partnership with

Welcome to the end of the week edition of The Baseline!

Every Friday morning, I break down what you missed in basketball culture. 

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

Let’s jump right into it…

FAST BREAK

Here’s what you missed this week:

👿 Drake continues to glaze Kevin Durant as they tease the upcoming launch of the KD19 “Purple Stuff”.

👟 Nike Basketball and Caitlin Clark officially unveiled the Caitlin 1, the star athlete’s first signature sneaker.

👛 Jordyn Woods' bag went viral during the Knicks' playoff run, and her brand, Woods By Jordyn, just launched a pre-order that instantly sold out.

✅ Nike announced that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is officially joining Nike Basketball, moving over from Converse (as part of the Nike, Inc. umbrella).

🏀 Luka Doncic and Jordan Brand are activating a three-city European tour, bringing basketball and sneaker culture to Madrid, Belgrade, and Ljubljana.

📊 Fanatics had their best 24-hour championship merchandise launch ever after the New York Knicks won their first NBA Championship in 53 years.

💰 Ice Cube is taking the Big3 public at a valuation of $390 million as the pro 3v3 league enters its ninth season.

☎️ Paige Bueckers partnered with Verizon to give fans an opportunity to leave her a voicemail and have her answer their biggest questions.

🏝️ Foot Locker is hosting a special pop-up store at Balling on the Beach, as the retailer drops the latest in performance basketball footwear at the largest grassroots AAU event of the summer.

1️⃣ Jordan Brand announced (with a voiceover from the legendary Cha-Ching) that their 1v1 platform, The One, is returning bigger and better this summer.

🌍 Mike James became the EuroLeague's all-time leading scorer, and adidas Basketball celebrated the moment with his own Harden Vol. 10 Mike James PE.

🗽 Puma Hoops celebrated the Knicks' championship with a personalized gift from basketball legend Clyde Frazier to current Puma Basketball athlete Tyler Kolek.

✍️ Reebok Basketball continues its NBA rookie signings, announcing Tounde Yessoufou as its latest hoops athlete to join the brand.

The docs platform Anthropic, HubSpot, and Coinbase trust

Your documentation is a product decision. The companies building the most-used developer tools in the world chose Mintlify because great docs reduce support load, accelerate adoption, and convert evaluators into customers. Backed by a16z and Salesforce Ventures, Mintlify powers 20,000+ companies with AI-native documentation that keeps pace with your product — without pulling engineers off the roadmap to maintain it.

Book a demo

THE POINT FORWARD

This is the section of our newsletter where I point out one thing worth sharing with someone in your network—whether it’s a job, a resource, or just an idea or inspiration.

Forward this to a New Yorker who missed the parade yesterday because of work:

New York-based ad agency Mother NY partnered with a NYC-licensed Doctor of Physical Therapy to write sick notes for employees to get off work yesterday and attend the Knicks parade.

Your Sports Knowledge Pays

Watching sports just got a lot more interesting...

On Kalshi, you can take a position on real outcomes — who wins, season milestones, major matchups. If you know sports, you already have an edge.

You're trading peer-to-peer against other users, with fully transparent pricing. Cash out anytime. You don't have to wait for the final whistle.

Claim Your $10

_{Trade responsibly.}

POST-GAME

Thanks for reading! Here are a few ways we can stay connected:

🤝 Partner With Me: I work with brands, athletes and creators across their brand strategy, digital media, creator programs, partnerships, and marketing growth. Interested in working together? Get in touch here.

📊 Be First: I’m building Future Blueprint Sports — the definitive discovery and intelligence platform for sports marketing and creator culture. Get early access today.

👋 Stay Connected: Enjoyed this newsletter? Share it with a friend or colleague. Also follow me on LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok for more sports marketing and creator insights.

Thanks and see you next week!

- Jeff Chen | 🏀💡👨🏻‍💻