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:

👑 LeBron’s new Philadelphia 76ers jersey is the biggest new-team jersey launch in Fanatics history, as he has sold more jerseys than any athlete joining a new team across all sports, surpassing Shohei Ohtani and his LA Dodgers signing in 2023.

☎️ The Portland Trail Blazers encouraged their fans to call Ja Morant at 855-CALL-1-JA to leave him a voicemail and welcome him to Rip City.

✨ Nike Basketball and Drake's Nocta continue their collaboration with Kevin Durant as they team up for a Nocta KD apparel collection.

🪆 Angel Reese is officially getting her own Barbie Doll collectible, which will include a doll-sized version of her Reebok Angel Reese 1s.

🗽 SLAM announced their 8th annual SLAM Summer Classic, featuring the top boys' and girls' high school basketball players in the nation competing at Rucker Park on August 17th, with a group of endemic and non-endemic brand partners supporting the event.

👟 adidas Basketball taps two of their NIL athletes, Alijah Arenas and Kaleena Smith, into their Anthony Edwards Believe That world for an Arenas & Smith law firm spot.

🚌 Gatorade partnered with Hoop Bus to help spread awareness of their Body of Science initiative, a multi-year commitment to level the playing field for more sports science research focusing on women.

☕️ Puma Hoops partnered with creator Kayce Kirihara to host their new Tea Time show featuring their athletes Flau’Jae Johnson, Kelsey Mitchell and Skylar Diggins.

📣Tyrese Haliburton shared a "Troy Bolton" Hali 1 PE, inspired by the High School Musical movie, the first film he and his wife watched together on their first date.

🏀 Under Armour announced their elite high school basketball showcase, UA Next City Classic, will return to their brand’s Baltimore roots and be played at St. Frances Academy on 8/15 in Baltimore.

Speak naturally. Send without fixing.

Wispr Flow turns your voice into clean, professional text you can send the moment you stop talking. Not rough transcription you have to clean up. Actual polished text — ready for email, Slack, or any app.

Speak the way you think. Go on tangents. Change your mind mid-sentence. Flow strips the filler, fixes the grammar, and gives you text that reads like you spent five minutes writing it.

89% of messages sent with zero edits. Millions of professionals use Flow daily, including teams at OpenAI, Vercel, and Clay. Works on Mac, Windows, and iPhone.

Start flowing free

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 someone who wants to compare their career to an NBA career:

FWIW, I got 3x NBA Champion and NBA Front Office Executive James Jones.

What if ChatGPT recommends your competitor first?

Your competitor is already showing up in ChatGPT. You're not. AutoSEO gets 2,500+ businesses visible in Google, ChatGPT, and Perplexity. No SEO knowledge needed.

Get my free plan

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 | 🏀💡👨🏻‍💻