THE HALF-COURT CLASSIC — Jeoffrey Arrington

lululemon Chicago wanted to partner with Mob Rep to activate during NBA All-Star Weekend in a meaningful way. I created THE HALF-COURT CLASSIC to put the spotlight on the local athletes that make Chicago the most important basketball city in the world, during a weekend of otherwise “exclusive” brand events. Emceed by Philadelphia 76ers Power Forward and lululemon Ambassador Kyle O'Quinn in a secret warehouse in West Town, we staged a massive 3-v-3 co-ed invitational basketball tournament. We chose a Chicago-bred lineup of perfomrances, including The Cool Kids, Femdot, and Qari, with DJ sets from Evie the Cool, Ca$hera, and Selah Say. and partnered with local businesses The Delta, Smackdab, Pour Souls, and Coquetel Spirits to provide over 1000 paid-ticketed attendees complimentary bites + beverages. We secured an additional partnership with Wilson Basketball, who provided custom basketballs, as well as giveaways to athletes and attendees.

To maximize impact, I recruited Chicago Basketball Club and The Chi-Side, two local organizations with youth basketball programming, to co-host Operation Basketball in our space before the event. We hosted around 50 local youth basketball players ages 8 to 14, who spent the day training with our NBA participant Kyle O’Quinn, and took home backpacks and custom engraved basketballs from Wilson Basketball.