NBA AND RHONE ANNOUNCE MULTI YEAR GLOBAL MARKETING PARTNERSHIP

- Rhone Partners with NBA Champion and Five-Time All-Star Kevin Love to Launch Campaign Designed to Raise Awareness Around Mental and Physical Well-Being -

- The Partnership Will Feature Rhone's Commuter^® Shirt with Plans to Unveil Licensed Dress Shirts Featuring NBA and Team Logos -

STAMFORD, Conn. and NEW YORK, Oct. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Rhone, a leading lifestyle brand dedicated to championing Mental Fitness, today announced a multiyear global marketing partnership.

To tip off the partnership, Rhone enlisted NBA Champion and five-time All-Star Kevin Love as a brand ambassador, who will work with Rhone to launch a campaign designed to raise awareness around mental and physical well-being. The campaign will highlight the natural synergy between Love and Rhone, inspiring viewers to prioritize their mental health and supporting Rhone's mission to positively impact over 100 million lives. Rhone will additionally introduce custom content on the NBA Fitness platform, a digital content initiative within the NBA App focused on health and fitness, furthering its commitment to uplifting both physical and emotional resilience by promoting the importance of this across various channels, reaching millions of NBA athletes, coaches, and fans alike.

Love shares Rhone's commitment to promoting positive mental health, advocating for it to be just as important as physical well-being. Through the Kevin Love Fund, he works to break the stigma surrounding mental health, offering tools that prioritize this alongside physical health.

"I'm proud to partner with Rhone in our shared commitment to shining a light on the importance of mental health," said Kevin Love. "Physical fitness has always been a priority for athletes, but Mental Fitness is just as critical to success, both on and off the court. Together with Rhone, we're working to break down the stigma around mental health and show that real strength comes from taking care of the mind and body equally."

Rhone will feature its Commuter^® Shirt throughout the partnership with the league. The Commuter^® Shirt, crafted from premium fabrics for style and comfort, is designed to meet the demands of fans who value apparel that works as hard as they do. Additionally, Rhone will produce licensed dress shirts featuring NBA and team logos, which will be made available for purchase in the coming months.

"Rhone has introduced an innovative product and a new category for the league that fittingly supports the NBA's active fanbase," said Lisa Piken Koper, Head of Apparel and Sporting Goods at the NBA. "Our collaboration with Rhone stems from our shared mission in helping advance both physical and mental well-being, which we look forward to building upon through Rhone's custom content across NBA Fitness."

Since being founded in 2014, Rhone has remained steadfast in its mission to champion Mental Fitness. In April 2018, the NBA launched Mind Health, the league's program to humanize mental health and position it as an essential element of wellness and excellence both on and off the court.

"We're thrilled to be partnering with the NBA and Kevin Love," said Nate Checketts, CEO, Rhone. "This has been a dream for me since we launched Rhone a decade ago. This collaboration represents a powerful opportunity to connect with the dedicated NBA community and champion the importance of Mental Fitness, of which Kevin is a fierce advocate, together."

Rhone's Commuter^® Shirt can be purchased on Rhone.com as well as at all 15 of Rhone's retail locations. Additionally, customers can experience Custom Made by Rhone, which is reshaping the landscape of tailored clothing for men with 3D technology, at all Rhone retail locations.

For more information, please contact:

Clara Berkeley

c.berkeley@rhone.com 

Chris El-Dabh

celdabh@nba.com

About Rhone

Founded in 2014, Rhone is a performance lifestyle brand dedicated to championing Mental Fitness. Engineered for optimal style, comfort, and performance, our clothing is designed to enhance every aspect of the active individual's life. Led by brothers Nate & Ben Checketts, Rhone is fueled by a clear vision: positively impacting lives through a commitment to Mental Fitness, inspiring community, and crafting performance-driven products. Rhone's purpose is straightforward yet impactful: to inspire those who challenge themselves in their relentless pursuit of progress. In addition to a robust E-commerce business and a strong wholesale presence, Rhone currently has 15 retail stores across the U.S., all of which are used for building community through various initiatives such as the brand's signature Mind & Muscle events. More information can be found at www.rhone.com.

About the NBA

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a global sports and media organization with the mission to inspire and connect people everywhere through the power of basketball. Built around five professional sports leagues: the NBA, WNBA, NBA G League, NBA 2K League and Basketball Africa League, the NBA has established a major international presence with games and programming available in 214 countries and territories in 60 languages, and merchandise for sale in more than 200 countries and territories on all seven continents. NBA rosters at the start of the 2023-24 season featured a record 125 international players from 40 countries and territories. NBA Digital's assets include NBA TV, NBA.com, the NBA App and NBA League Pass. The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with more than 2.3 billion likes and followers globally across all leagues, team and player platforms. NBA Cares, the NBA's global social responsibility platform, partners with renowned community-based organizations around the world to address important social issues in the areas of education, inclusion, youth and family development, and health and wellness. 

About Kevin Love

Kevin Love, World Champion and five-time All-Star, is a forward for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association and founder of the Kevin Love Fund, a mental health non-profit.

His professional career began in 2008 when Love joined the Minnesota Timberwolves. With the Timberwolves, Love emerged as one of the league's premier power forwards, earning multiple All-Star selections, establishing himself as a double-double machine, and winning gold medals at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2012 Summer Olympics. However, it was Love's tenure with the Cleveland Cavaliers that cemented his legacy in NBA history. Joining forces with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, Love played a pivotal role in the Cavaliers' championship run in 2016, capturing the franchise's first-ever NBA title. 

Beyond his accomplishments on the court, Love has been a vocal advocate for mental health awareness. In 2018, he penned a powerful essay for The Players' Tribune, detailing his struggles with anxiety and depression. His courageous openness sparked a national conversation about mental health in professional sports and inspired countless individuals to seek help.

In the same year, Love established the Kevin Love Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting mental health education and providing resources to those in need. Love has been awarded the ESPY Arthur Ashe Courage Award, Change Maker Award by the Child Mind Institute, the NBA Cares Assist Award, and was a ESPY Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award finalist due to his work in the mental health space.

Since then, the Kevin Love Fund has launched several impactful programs, including a free evidence-based SEL curriculum. In collaboration with K-12 educators and SEL experts, the 15-lesson curriculum is tailored for middle school, high school, and college students, and was developed to combat the growing mental health pandemic, and supporting students in expressing emotions and destigmatizing mental health challenges. Love's commitment to using his platform for good has made a profound impact, helping to shatter the stigma surrounding mental health issues and offering hope to countless individuals struggling in silence.

Whether he's dominating the boards or championing mental health awareness, Kevin Love continues to inspire both on and off the court, leaving an indelible mark on the NBA and society as a whole.

About Kevin Love Fund

When professional basketball player Kevin Love publicly shared his personal story about challenges with mental health after a public panic attack during a game, he had no idea the movement it would create. One by one, fans and other high-profile celebrities began to share their own stories of fear and struggle. Quickly, a national conversation had begun.

In 2018, Love established the Kevin Love Fund (KLF), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that works to inspire people to live their healthiest lives by creating equity between mental and physical health. As an evidence-based organization, KLF focuses on research, education, and narrative change to break the stigma around mental health. To learn more, visit kevinlovefund.org.

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