Jaylen Brown Is A One-Man Brand

Female athletes are the hottest brand ambassadors in the beauty space. Some men aren’t far behind though—just ask Jared McCain.  

The most important gaming news of the day: we have a release date for Backyard Baseball, and it’s only two weeks away. Millennials, mark your calendars for October 10—Christmas is coming early.

The second most important gaming news of the day: NYT is expanding its gaming portfolio with a sports version of “Connections.” Like all other daily NYT games, it is perfect and will remain so until we lose a round, at which point we will never play again… until the next day.

Dior’s Paris Fashion Week show was a celebration of women in sport that included live archery on the runway. If looks could kill, they would do it with a bow and arrow.

The bidding for Shohei Ohtani’s 50/50 ball will begin at $500,000. To whom do we make out the check?

There’s power couples, then there is “daughter of Steve Jobs and Olympic gold-medalist show jumper” power couples. That’s Eve Jobs and Harry Charles for you, and they’re now engaged. Talk about a Macbook Heir.

Celtics star Jaylen Brown launched his own performance footwear brand, 741. One trip to the brand’s homepage will prove that Brown has some big ambitions for the project.

The launch came with the debut of Brown’s new signature sneaker. What do you think of the look?

Brown’s decision to strike out on his own came with some big costs, as he turned down roughly $50 million in potential endorsement dollars from other big players. He has long been an outspoken critic of the signature sneaker industry, and particularly of the role that brands like Nike play in profiting off their athletes.

But 741 isn’t just about keeping control of his own products. Brown hopes “to create more value for everyone involved, from athletes to consumers to employees and the communities that support them.” He cites Kobe Bryant as an inspiration for the project. 

Brown’s new brand is yet another example of the shifting tides of the sneaker industry. Puma, New Balance, Skechers, Adidas and Under Armour—and a collective of Chinese brands from Anta to Li-Ning—are all coming for Nike’s NBA crown. Now here come individual stars like Brown.

Somehow, launching his own company might not have been the biggest branding decision that Brown made last week. In case you missed it, he shaved his beard.

@jakeheyen

Clubbing with your friends is no longer what the cool kids are doing… Plunging with your friends is the new thing 👇 Now, you might be roll... See more

33 of the most valuable cards in collectibles were on the auction block on Tuesday at Harlem Parish in New York City. By the end of the night, all but one of the cards had sold.

@nyc_vibes212

The Holy Grails Exhibition At The Harlem Parish #nyc #tradingcards #rare #rarecards #baseball #basketball #basketballcards #baseballcards

The biggest sale of the night was a 1955 Topps Roberto Clemente rookie card, which sold for $840,000. Other notable cards featured legends such as Hank Aaron, Shohei Ohtani, LeBron James and Pokemon.

@sothebys

During the #Sothebys x #Fanatics Collect ‘Holy Grails’ auction in Harlem tonight, this rare 1955 #Topps #RobertoClemente #Rookie Card PSA ... See more

No item will get more press than the Tom Brady-signed rookie card that went for $120,000. The buyer was Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who was sitting with Brady when he made the winning bid.

Meek Mill got outbid on an autographed LeBron rookie card that ultimately sold for $432,000. He didn’t leave empty-handed though, later landing an autographed Stephen Curry card.

The collection craze isn’t ebbing any time soon. If you have a box buried in your attic, it might be worth double-checking that your retirement fund isn’t collecting dust. Send them our way… we’ll take a look for you.