VanVleet is following the path that many other athletes have gone down in creating his own companyNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
Raptors G Fred VanVleet is currently a footwear free agent, and he hopes to "expand his off-court clothing brand to include on-court footwear, and play in shoes he’ll design, develop and bring to market under his own banner," according to Morgan Campbell of the TORONTO STAR. VanVleet hopes to achieve his goal "while still relying on the network of relatives and close friends he currently employs." NBA players employing their close associates "have seen a broad range of outcomes." At one end of the "success spectrum stands LeBron James, who made friend Maverick Carter his business manager and helped Carter grow into a sports and entertainment mogul." At the "other end" is Lakers G Lonzo Ball, who recently separated from a co-founder of his family's Big Baller Brand. VanVleet and Raptors G Norman Powell have "scaled their marketing efforts to their profiles." VanVleet said that his apparel company recently opened a fulfilment center to "accommodate growth in online purchases from Toronto, where he has developed from a Raptors 905 call-up to a valued complement" to Raptors G Kyle Lowry. He also "ran a pop-up shop in Wichita, Kan., where he played college ball." He "operates a bricks-and-mortar retail space" in Rockford, Ill. (TORONTO STAR, 3/27).
