Reporter|Yang Yi
On June 13, 2023, Beijing time, the Denver Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat 94-89 at home, defeating their opponents 4-1 on aggregate, winning the NBA championship for the first time in team history.
Although the Nuggets were inaccurate on the offensive end and hit only 5 of the team's 28 three-point ranges, the team still controlled the game through solid defense.
"Defense wins championships", in the four games won in this Finals, the Nuggets limited the Heat's points per game to less than 93 points per game, forcing opponents to repeatedly set new playoff scoring lows.
In addition to center Jokic, who won the Finals MVP, core guard Murray and another arrow figure in the team, Aaron Gordon, also made outstanding contributions.
In this series, Gordon shot 29 of 48 from the field, shooting more than 60% overall, with a total plus/minus of +61, the first in the NBA Finals in the past five years. Eventually helped the team keep the O'Brien Cup in Denver.
Gordon, who was crowned NBA champion for the first time, was signed by the Chinese sports brand 361° as early as 2020 to become the brand's spokesperson.
- The "uncrowned dunk king" favored by Chinese sports brands has completed its transformation
After Game 4 of the Finals, Gordon said, "I'm here to be the defensive player on the team. I know they can all score. ”
In fact, in this game, Gordon shot 11 of 15, scoring 27 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals, which is a comprehensive performance and the epitome of his entire season.
Over the past season, Gordon has averaged 16.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.8 blocks per game in the regular season, all of which are up from last season. The Nuggets also won the first place in the regular season in the traditionally competitive West.
In the playoffs, as the team's starting four, Gordon played 20 games full-time, averaging 35.7 minutes per game, and continuously locked the core of opponents such as Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Jimmy Butler on the defensive end, acting as the winner and loser of the game.
The hopeful star, who was selected with the fourth pick in the first round in 2014, finally broke away from the past of the "uncrowned dunk king" and cashed in on his talent with a championship.
In fact, the Denver Nuggets are the second stop of Gordon's career, after playing for the Orlando Magic, Gordon participated in the Slam Dunk Contest three times and finished runner-up twice. But with the most eight full-point dunks in history, he has fans honoring him with an "uncrowned dunk king".
In February 2020, Chinese sports brand 361° officially signed Aaron Gordon as a brand spokesperson. In March 2021, Gordon joined the Nuggets through a trade.
With a new environment and new personal signature shoes, Gordon began to take off - with the cooperation of passing master Jokic, Gordon shot more than 50% in a single season for the first time in his career, and gradually transformed into an all-round warrior with good offensive and defensive skills.
Having a personal signature sneaker is a common "little goal" for basketball players. Gordon once said, "361° professional basketball shoes can help me play more freely on the court, and further drive the level of competition." ”
- With the signature shoe AG series, Gordon tends to be all-round in attack and defense
In the February 2020 All-Star Slam Dunk Contest, Gordon announced the official cooperation between the two parties with a 361° All-Star customized version of the BIG3 sneakers with "Come on Wuhan" written on his feet.
After experiencing team models such as Zengo, 361° launched the first signature sneaker AG1 for Gordon in late 2020. At that time, the AG1, priced at just over 200 yuan, became a "clear stream" in basketball shoes and was sought after by basketball enthusiasts.
At present, the AG series has been launched for three generations, and in November 2022, the new AG3 PRO sneakers applied a new carbon-critical foamed midsole cushioning technology, which caused a sensation in the shoe ring.
During the development of the three generations of signature shoes, Gordon and 361° constantly communicated and co-created around the characteristics of the players themselves. The design orientation of the sneakers has been adjusted as Gordon matures at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends.
During this NBA Finals, Gordon also put on the shoes of the 361° "Zen 5" series, with midsole ENRG-X+ and forefoot QU! The combination of KCQTECH technology improves the boot feedback speed of sneakers and has been chosen by Gordon many times.
Under the aura of NBA championships, 361° has confirmed Aaron Gordon's trip to China this summer, aiming to win more attention for the brand in the domestic basketball market.
- There are many ways to drain traffic, and the basketball segment is highly competitive
The running product line is now the focus of competition for global sports brands. In the competition of Chinese sports brands, basketball segmentation is second only to running.
According to 361° Group's 2022 financial report, footwear products accounted for the highest proportion of the record-breaking revenue of 6.961 billion yuan for the whole year, reaching 41%. Sales of footwear products increased by 12.7% year-on-year to RMB2,854 million.
In the field of basketball, in addition to Aaron Gordon, 361° also signed NBA Nets player Spencer Dinwiddie, CBA players Keran Markan and Li Yiyan, etc., gradually building a star player endorsement matrix.
On the basis of building basketball products with core technology, spokespersons can consolidate the brand image and stimulate sales of related products.
In addition, the self-created basketball event IP has also become a major attempt to attract traffic from domestic sports brands.
In 2020, 361° created the "Touch-to-Touch" basketball series, which did not set a threshold for participation, attracting many young enthusiasts to stand on the court, and quickly gained acclaim in China's grassroots basketball industry.
Zheng Yexin, General Manager of 361° Brand Management Center, said: "In 2020, at the beginning of the epidemic, we held the first "touch-to-touch" basketball game offline, and our persistence in the past three years has allowed us to gain the attention of a large number of young basketball enthusiasts. ”
At present, the official account of "Touching the Ground" has more than 300,000 fans on platforms such as Douyin and Weibo.
The first race of the 2023 "Touch-to-Touch" event started in Guiyang in early April. At that time, the champion of the sub-station competition also teamed up with well-known grassroots players Yang Zheng and Huang Yujun to go to the 50,000-person bullring arena in Leli Town, Rongjiang County, Qiandongnan Prefecture, to play with the village basketball team, catching up with the popularity of rural basketball in recent years.
According to reports, the "touch-to-touch" event in 2023 will increase from 9 cities in 2022 to 16 cities, further expanding the scale of the event. And Aaron Gordon's trip to China will also include multi-stop events.
NBA championship players teamed up to create their own basketball event IP, and 361° handed over the answer sheet to the fiercely competitive basketball segment.