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Welcome to this week’s edition of The Baseline!

Each and every Wednesday, we share Brand Insights, Marketing Strategy, Creator Tools and Business Resources across the sport and culture of basketball:

LINKEDIN BLUEPRINT

This NBA two-way rookie, now entering his second year, is demonstrating exactly how professional athletes, or any of us, should be using LinkedIn.

Which is impressive because I don’t think he’s even using a ghostwriter like most celebrities on LinkedIn.

While most young athletes are chasing vanity metrics on TikTok and Instagram, Spencer Jones of the Denver Nuggets understands the value of being present where the business world scrolls.

He’s not chasing social clout with tunnel pics and highlight videos but building the creator foundation for his future business endeavors.

As a Stanford graduate, Spencer posts about his daily NBA routine, insights around the business of basketball, commentary on the challenges of being a rookie, and his interests in technology and investment theory.

Some people reading his content might not even realize he’s a professional NBA player, but that’s the point because he’s playing the long game.

His content is a top-of-funnel strategy to build relationships with founders, executives, and industry leaders that will help him in his life and career after basketball.

In an era where personal branding is digital currency, Spencer Jones is quietly writing the LinkedIn Blueprint for the next generation of athletes.

FREE THROWS

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

🌐 Dia - The AI Personal Assistant that allows you to chat with all your browser tabs, simplifying your existing copy/paste AI experience.

🤯 The Ad Professor - Get inspired with 21 of the best scroll-stopping ads for social.

💬 Tweetgen - Last week, I was curious about how meme pages create "Twitter-style" assets for Instagram and I found the tool that the biggest meme pages use to quickly produce that style of content.

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FAST BREAK

Here’s what you missed this week:

⛈️ Seattle Storm announced they will unveil a statue of Sue Bird on August 17th, making her the first player to receive the honor from a WNBA franchise.

⛳️ LeBron spent his holiday weekend golfing in Ohio, which led to internet speculation about a potential retirement tour and his return to Cleveland due to his Homecoming Network hat.

🎬 Fanatics, ESPN, and OBB Media partnered to produce "Fanatics Fest: All Access," an hour-long special that goes behind the scenes of the summer's biggest event.

👟 Nike released official images of the Sabrina 3, with the shoe and apparel collection set to release on July 24.

❎ adidas released the Dame X campaign, Damian Lillard’s 10th signature shoe, at a $95 price point, a decision that Dame personally wanted for his shoe.

🎮 After a 15-year hiatus, EA Sports announced they are bringing back their EA College Basketball video game, set to return in 2028, featuring both men's and women's teams.

🟠 Jordan Brand is retelling the Shattered Backboard story through puppets and animations ahead of the upcoming launch.

💰 Opendorse released their new report indicating that the NIL industry is projected to reach $2.5 billion in 2026, marking the first year of revenue sharing.

🌎 Summer means a world tour for signature athletes as Ja Morant is headed to Peach Jam, New York, China, Tokyo, and Manila with Nike Basketball on the Make Them Watch Tour and Stephen Curry and De’Aaron Fox will be hitting San Francisco, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Xi’An, and Chongqing with Under Armour and Curry Brand.

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POST-GAME

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you back here next week….

If you aren’t following me on LinkedIn yet, please do!

- Jeff Chen | 🏀💡👨🏻‍💻