Together with

Welcome to this week’s edition of The Baseline!

Let’s jump right into your weekly blueprint for basketball culture as we break down:

💡 Brand Insights

♟️ Marketing Strategy

🧰 Creator Tools

📈 Business Resources

NEWSLETTER BLUEPRINT

The Word of Westbrook Is Here

Just like Russell Westbrook’s stats, newsletter marketing is consistent.

Which is why every brand, athlete and creator should have a newsletter.

That's why Westbrook (Word of Westbrook), Stephen Curry (Thirty Ink), and Kyle Kuzma (Kuz Kontrol) are at the forefront of NBA athletes that have already launched theirs.

Because if you’re renting your audience on social media, you don’t really own it.

If a social platform shuts down or changes their algorithm, your reach disappears with it.

An insightful and consistent newsletter (like this one 😃) is one of the best marketing channels you can have.

This not only gives you direct access to connect with your audience but opens new ways for your business to monetize.

And now platforms like Beehiiv make it easier than ever with built in tools for design, growth and making money.

FREE THROWS

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

🗣️ You Distro - If you’re not using AI to improve and speed up your marketing workflow, you’re going to get left behind. This new tool helps you create content from conversations in minutes.

📍 YouTube Creator Collectives - YouTube has been hosting global creator meet-ups since 2022, and this year the program is reaching all 50 states, helping you become a better creator and expand your network.

📧 Owners Only Newsletter - Sharing playbooks and inspiring stories from the owner's manual at the intersection of entrepreneurship, culture and the creator economy.

Stuck at square one?

Tell us if this sounds familiar. Your newsletter growth has plateaued. You’re working hard, but not making any money. Other newsletters are turning into full-blown media empires while you’re still trying to get your side-hustle off the ground.

Yeah, that sucks. But here’s the deal: beehiiv can turn all that around for you. As the one place to build, we help you scale and monetize your newsletter so you can grow at the rate your content deserves.

Our team works directly with creators to understand their goals, their issues, and their dreams to ship products and features that put you in control of your very own content rocketship 🚀.

So look, if your newsletter platform only helps you hit Send, switch to beehiiv and find out just how much a modern content platform can do for you. 

Get 20% off for 3 months here with code BUILD here.

FAST BREAK

Here’s what you missed this week:

💰 Amir "Aura" Khan just had a historic student manager NIL run, securing over 10 brand partnerships despite not making it past the second round. The brands included Buffalo Wild Wings, Topps, Fortnite, The Formula Bot, and more.

📺 Kevin Durant starred in an epic commercial for Dick’s Sporting Goods alongside Tom Brady, Usain Bolt, Suni Lee, and Travis Hunter.

👟 Under Armour Basketball teamed up with viral skit creators RDCWorld ahead of the University of South Carolina’s attempt to repeat as Women’s Basketball National Champions.

🎙️ Oregon Women's Basketball's Deja Kelly partnered with Front Office Sports to launch her new show, NILOSOPHY, as she breaks down the world of NIL from the perspective of a top college athlete.

🤳 Kyrie Irving has been spending his time rehabbing while streaming with his fans. If you've been paying attention, we're in The Streaming Era—where brands, athletes, and creators can win beyond social media.

🍟 Despite his son Kiyan being snubbed, Carmelo Anthony is starring in a new campaign promoting the McDonald's All-American Game on and their new pop-up shop with Playa Society.

🦚 After announcing her new YouTube series with Uninterrupted last week, Chiney Ogwumike followed up by announcing a new WNBA-inspired scripted comedy show with Peacock.

🥔 BYU’s Richie Saunders' great-grandfather invented the tater tot and secured an NIL partnership with Ore-Ida to give away free tater tots for every March Madness BYU win. I think this origin story is perfect for a Netflix processed food feature film!

📍 Jordan Brand quietly announced the Jordan Brand Classic 2025, which will be played on April 18 in Washington, D.C.

⭐️ Stephon Marbury is bringing back his $15 Starbury sneaker brand 20 years after the original shoe’s debut.

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POST-GAME

Thanks for reading this week!

If you have any ideas, tips or suggestions to improve your newsletter experience—just shoot me a quick email and let’s chat!

- Jeff Chen | 🏀💡👨🏻‍💻