words & images_Nick Engvall
Saturday night in Los Angeles, the energy that had the Staples Center buzzing was something that couldn’t really be explained by words. Even entering well before game time, with just a minimal amount of fans in the arena, excitement was simmering at every seat.
As fans entered the stadium they received a gift bag from Li-Ning. Each of the bags included a matching set of Defend & Conquer thunder sticks, which were quickly inflated and displayed by many fans in their best “get me on the JumboTron” dance moves. A couple of hundred lucky fans would find themselves the recipient of a free pair of the latest Baron Davis signature sneakers, the Beardman-laden Li-Ning Defend. Those that weren’t one of the select few to receive a pair of the Defend at the Staples Center didn’t leave empty handed though, but rather left with a coupon good for a nice discount on the shoes at Southern California Champs Sports locations.
Partnering with Champs, Li-Ning’s efforts to help move them further into the US basketball footwear market took another monumental step over the weekend, as they launched the Li-Ning Defend at retail locations across the country. With an uphill battle still ahead of them, the small team that puts in work for Li-Ning here in the US recognizes that each success is a stepping stone to achieving their goals. With that in mind, key partnerships, dedication and perseverance seem to be common threads amongst Li-Ning, Baron Davis and the Clipper Nation fans that have adopted Li-Ning and the Beardman as part of their family over the last year or so.
Along with the dedication and perseverance, one of the most impressive things about the relationship between Li-Ning and Baron Davis is how much deeper their partnership is than many of the traditional endorsements between player and brand seem to be these days. The relationship mimics that of Baron Davis' circle of influence -- a small number of loyal people that have been supportive of Davis all along the way -- and Li-Ning is building their US athlete relations in the same fashion. It's fitting and it exemplifies an understanding that the big picture for this partnership is bigger than the rest of the competition is realizing. While everyone else is still viewing things at the regular theater, Li-Ning and Baron Davis are staring at an IMAX screen of their future. Their dedication to doing things right, and taking their time to do so, has a striking resemblance to one of the most dedicated of Clippers fans, Clipper Darrell.
Clipper Darrell was one of the first people to get a pair of the Li-Ning Defend on Saturday. His loyalty to the team, having only missed 1 home game in the last 10 years, has essentially made him the unofficial president of the Clipper Nation. Not to mention the fact that his attire has more team colors in it than the team’s own jerseys do. It seemed only fitting that he be one of the first to swap out his blue BD Dooms in favor of the newly released Li-Ning Defend, not that his Dooms weren't clean and crispy. As he put it, he was supporting the latest Baron Davis shoe because it's a family thing. After a quick switch of the laces, Clipper Darrell was off to his seat where he could be seen cheering contagiously throughout the game, leading the fans that seemed to be cheering long after the Clippers defeated the Warriors.
As Clipper Darrell leads the cheers, it seems he's doing the same with his choice of footwear. As goes the leader of the Clipper Nation to the Li-Ning Defend, so go the fans of Los Angeles, and as Los Angeles goes, so goes the rest of the country. At least that's what Li-Ning is planning. So far it seems like all the right pieces are in place and the big picture is steadily becoming reality.
