adidas Partners With Rucker Park, Drew League and AEBL

Today is a special day for hoops and streetwear fans. Y’all ready for this?

The joining of forces between adidas Basketball and the hallowed leagues will further illustrate their shared commitment to providing mentorship, resources, and opportunities to underrepresented and aspiring players while adding unique access to the adidas brand.

In celebration of the official partnerships, adidas Basketball athletes James Harden, Anthony Edwards and Donovan Mitchell will debut each league’s partnership jersey ahead of this year’s summer league season. The joining of forces between adidas Basketball and the hallowed leagues will further illustrate their shared commitment to providing mentorship, resources and opportunities to underrepresented and aspiring players while adding unique access to the adidas brand. 

This past Friday, ONE37pm spoke with ReeCee Hollans, Global Grassroots Basketball Sports Marketing Manager about this groundbreaking deal.

ONE37pm: Thanks for chatting with us ReeCee! Could you just speak a little more about this partnership?

Hollans: This partnership is all about people who love basketball, have played basketball, and are in love with the game. For us, Drew League, Rucker Park, and AEBL were no-brainers because they are legendary summer basketball leagues. As someone who played college ball myself, it’s been incredible to work with experts in this space. We are blessed to have had the opportunity to lock in these partnerships.

ONE37pm: Okay ReeCee we have a task for you. Can you break down what this adidas partnership means to each individual league?

Hollans: Sure! We’ll start with Drew League. For us this means family. Dino, our founder, is a real family man. His wife Chaniel is the commissioner. Their son came up with the concept of the Drew Crew. So when I think about Drew, I think about family and empowerment on and off the court.

With the AEBL, I think about culture. I hate to use that term, but Atlanta is truly the culture from music, to food, and even fashion. As you mentioned to me earlier, AEBL games have an HBCU vibe to them, and it’s an experience. From Bria Janelle hosting and bringing the energy that she does, to the band, to the players—It’s almost a little overwhelming. The AEBL is all about culture and community.

With Rucker Park, I think about History. Rucker Park is something that just about everybody knows, and people understand the history and the heritage of playing basketball outside. If you think about it, a basketball player first starts playing outside most of the time. Rucker Park definitely represents history.

ONE37pm: What else do you want people to know about this partnership? What can they expect when they go to a game this summer?

Hollans: The environment is going to be something that people can connect with. We are going to be doing tons of giveaways, and we’re going to be in the community. This isn’t something that we want to do only during the summer, we want the impact to be year-round. So fans can expect a great environment for sure.

You can keep up with all of the latest updates with this announcement via adidas.