Title: How Fred VanVleet became the face of AND1’s quest to reestablish position in the sneaker market
Date: February 7, 2020
Original Source: The Athletic
Synopsis: In my latest for The Athletic Toronto, I wrote about Fred VanVleet becoming the new face of AND1 and everything that went into that process.
Consider what Fred VanVleet did to Tomas Satoransky on Sunday a sneak preview.
When the play started, the Chicago Bulls guard was trying to make his way around a Serge Ibaka screen to stay close to VanVleet, the Raptors’ lethal 3-point shooter. When it ended, Satoransky was sitting — literally — below the free-throw line, staring helplessly at VanVleet’s feet as he launched a jumper from beyond the arc some 15 feet away.
The time between those two moments felt far longer than it was. In it, VanVleet slowed Satoransky down and then sped him up, head-faking an initial attack dribble before making a bait-and-switch probe toward the paint and finally dropping him with a crossover and then smoothly back-stepping to his left for the open triple.
It’s difficult to imagine a better way to kick off VanVleet’s biggest week as the new face of an AND1 brand that was built on crossovers and ankle-breakers.
On Friday, AND1 released the Attack 2.0 at Foot Locker in Toronto, marking their reentry into major sporting good retail stores with VanVleet front and centre.
Blake Murphy Sports Writing 