In partnership with

Welcome to Friday’s edition of The Baseline!

While the NBA trade deadline has all the exciting on-court news, I share the latest marketing and creator insights happening across hoops culture.

Let’s jump right into it…

FAST BREAK

Here’s what you missed this week:

📈 While the WNBA continues their CBA negotiations, Unrivaled broke the WNBA single-game attendance record with 21,490 fans in attendance for their sold-out doubleheader at Philadelphia's Xfinity Mobile Arena.

🐜 adidas Basketball celebrated Anthony Edwards' fourth All-Star nomination by releasing "The Top Dog" spot, taking shots at his rivals and sneaker competitors across the league.

🤳 adidas Basketball teased their upcoming All-Star activation “The Adidas Showdown” led by Cam Wilder and Rayasianboy.

🧴 Kevin Durant turned his long-running ashy-legs Internet joke into a new brand deal with Cerave as he becomes the brand’s athlete ambassador for their Moisturizing Cream.

🧞 Jordan Brand unveiled their new Generational Greatness campaign with Niecy Nash, Regan Aliyah, Teyana Taylor, Napheesa Collier, Rhyne Howard and more as they inspire the next generation to Want It All.

🏀 Overtime has announced an official partnership with the NBA and WNBA that will bring league highlights across OT’s ecosystem, along with exclusive content and shows, and OTE games will be shared across the NBA’s digital platforms.

👟 Nike Basketball dropped their new G.T. Cut 4 campaign with Paige Bueckers, Ausar and Amen Thompson as the lead athletes of the shoe.

🖌️ Toronto-based artist Mark Serrano collaborated with the NBA to create custom hand-lettered graphics to break down the design details of the newest NBA All-Star 2026 uniforms.

🍔 The official McDonald’s All-American Class of 2026 was announced, along with this year’s host city, Phoenix, Arizona—as Grimace, Chris Paul, Diana Taurasi, and Kahleah Copper made the announcement.

📽️ Dillon Brooks continues his Streamers Tour after going live with Agent last week and this week, he gave N3on an all-access tour of the Suns facility and engaged in a candid conversation about life, basketball, and more.

🤫 New Balance Basketball continues to roll out their newest creative, as Cooper Flagg, Tyrese Maxey, Darius Garland, Cameron Brink and their other basketball athletes star in this new Quiet Noise commercial spot.

🌇 ANTA is opening their new US Flagship retail store in Beverly Hills with the grand opening ceremony taking place during NBA All-Star Weekend with appearances by Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson and other special guests.

🚫 Jordan Brand has ended Zion Williamson’s signature sneaker line, with his last shoe being the Jordan Zion 4 which launched in December 20024.

Want to get the most out of ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is a superpower if you know how to use it correctly.

Discover how HubSpot's guide to AI can elevate both your productivity and creativity to get more things done.

Learn to automate tasks, enhance decision-making, and foster innovation with the power of AI.

Download the free guide

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 understand the marketing ROI of spending upwards of $29 million on a brand’s first-ever Super Bowl ad.

Zachariah Reitano, CEO and Co-Founder of Ro, explains why Ro is running its first Super Bowl ad featuring Serena Williams, and breaks down the economics, strategic thinking, and measurement framework behind their decision.

Creativity + Science = Ads that perform

Join award-winning strategist Babak Behrad and Neurons CEO Thomas Z. Ramsøy for a strategic, practical webinar on what actually drives high-impact advertising today. Learn how top campaigns capture attention, build memory, and create branding moments that stick. It’s all backed by neuroscience, and built for real-world creative teams.

RSVP for the webinar

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 | 🏀💡👨🏻‍💻