Together with

Happy New Year!

Welcome to the first 2025 edition of The Baseline!

As usual, we’re breaking down the blueprint for basketball culture: brand insights, marketing strategy, creator tools, and business resources.

Let’s dive right into it…

MARKETING BLUEPRINT

DoorDash is mastering the art and science of marketing, culture and product.

Their NBA partnership and campaign is simply genius—it connects their app to real time moments in basketball.

Here's the play:

Every time an NBA player drops 50 points, DoorDash drops $5 into your DashPass account.

So when Jalen Brunson went off for 55 the other night against the Wizards, millions of DashPass members woke up to free credits the next morning.

By turning live sports moments into instant value, DoorDash is able to stay at the forefront of social conversations AND reward their most loyal members.

FREE THROWS

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

✍️ LinkedIn Prompts - receive a free daily prompt designed to enhance your personal brand and business presence on LinkedIn.

😰 5 Fears Every Entrepreneur Must Overcome - practical strategies to overcome your fears and turn your obstacles into new opportunities.

✌️ New Year Inspiration - make peach with 2024.

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FAST BREAK

Here’s what you missed this week:

👑 After turning 40 earlier this week and having more than two decades of dominating the NBA, I shared a quick story about working with LeBron in 2018 and what I have respected most about his career.

♟️ Wemby made the most of his New York road trip by making a surprise visit to Washington Square Park, where he played chess in the rain with fans. Are we looking at the future KONY?

🏆 Caitlin Clark celebrated another career accomplishment as she was named Associated Press Female Athlete of The Year.

🐭 The NBA, ESPN, and Disney partnered for a Christmas Day alt-cast with Mickey and friends. Did anyone else watch it with their kids? My daughter loved it!

🎄 adidas Basketball sparked a viral tweet when the brand reminisced about NBA Christmas Day games being better when the league made Christmas Day jerseys.

🌎 The Detroit Pistons celebrated World Basketball Day by surprising international fans from around the globe with custom jerseys featuring their country's flag embedded in the numbers.

🏀 Long Island Lutheran (NY) upset #1 ranked Columbus High School (FL) at the Jordan Holiday Classic, a premier high school showcase tournament produced in partnership with Made Hoops.

⚡️ The Oklahoma City Thunder was voted as having the best front office in sports, as The Athletic polled votes from over 40 executives and coaches in sports.

POST-GAME

I was moving last week and forgot to mention World Basketball Day, so I'm sharing a quick thank you to Dr. James Naismith for inventing the sport we all love!

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

If you have any questions, ideas, or opportunities to work together—just shoot me a quick email and let’s chat!

- Jeff Chen | 🏀💡👨🏻‍💻