Adidas’ NIL pipeline is producing NBA rookies who already know the business
By signing prospects in high school, Adidas is sending NBA rookies to the league who already understand the sneaker game
Mikel Brown Jr. reached the NBA with a head start few rookies have.
Long before being selected sixth overall by the Brooklyn Nets at Tuesday’s NBA Draft, the 20-year-old guard had been embedded in Adidas’ ecosystem through a name, image and likeness deal that began in high school.
“By the time our athletes walk across that Draft stage, they know our designers, our culture marketing leads, and our vets within the brand ecosystem,” Cam Mason, Adidas Basketball’s head of sports marketing, told Andscape.
Brown, who played one season at the University of Louisville, arrives in the NBA with years of experience inside Adidas, the global sportswear brand that signed him to an NIL partnership when he was a 17-year-old prospect in the Overtime Elite league.
“The NIL process helped me learn there’s so much more to the business of basketball,” Brown told Andscape. “To chop it up with guys who have actually walked this path and built their own signature lines is invaluable.”
In turn, Brown enters the NBA with his own Adidas-sponsored AAU program, relationships with active All-Stars such as Donovan Mitchell, and an audience that spans more than 84,000 followers across Instagram and Twitch.
“They’re bringing an engaged community with them onto the NBA stage,” Mason said. “It completely changes the day-one ROI [return on investment].”
Brown is part of a broader shift in how Adidas identifies and develops talent.
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Darryn Peterson, the 19-year-old University of Kansas guard selected second overall by the Utah Jazz, is another one-and-done prospect who has been with Adidas since age 16.
“Having a brand like Adidas put that belief in you before you even touch an NBA floor? It just gives you that extra chip on your shoulder to go out there and prove them right every single night,” Peterson told Andscape.
Since signing with Adidas in 2023 as an underclassman in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Peterson has seen his profile rise at Prolific Prep and at Kansas.
Each program is backed by Adidas, allowing Peterson to endorse products on the court no differently than players already in the NBA. Before entering the league, Peterson had already starred in brand campaigns and had his own apparel offerings sold on the sportswear giant’s webstore.
“We’re invested in their journey,” Mason said. “The old model of sports marketing was transactional: You wait for a kid to get drafted and shoot a commercial. We flipped that.”
That shift is central to Adidas’ approach.
Instead of waiting for players to turn pro, the brand is building relationships earlier and developing athletes as long-term partners.
This new proposition not only allows brands to leverage young talent earlier, but also allows the most touted talent to sign their second contract with a footwear company before even playing a game.
According to industry insider Nick DePaula, Peterson inked a massive long-term extension with Adidas, which plans to utilize the Jazz rookie as a headliner for the next generation of the brand.
Reportedly, only LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Zion Williamson, and Allen Iverson signed more lucrative shoe deals upon entering the NBA.
“DP represents that classic, high-octane American guard heritage,” Mason said. ”We see him as the next generation of great scoring guards that can captivate the consumer through his style of play and highlights.”
At Kansas, Peterson averaged 20.2 points per game, the most by a freshman in the program’s 128-year history.
“For the brand, the value shifts from what could be to what is,” Mason said. “The NBA is the next platform for them to excel, and the ceiling is high.”
Adidas views NIL as more than access. It is development.
“We view NIL as an incubation period,” said Mason. “We don’t just sign athletes who are really good at the game of basketball; we provide a curriculum.”
Already, Peterson and Brown have experienced this behind the scenes, with office visits and designer meetings. Being treated like a pro happens fast, as banners featuring the duo currently hang from the ceilings at the same Adidas-sponsored AAU tournaments they competed in only years prior.
“They don’t just talk to you about basketball,” Brown said. “They talk to you about leadership, managing your circle, and how to carry yourself.”
Karim López, the No. 21 pick in Tuesday’s first round, has followed a similar path.
Adidas signed López as a 17-year-old prospect back at the brand’s 2025 Eurocamp. Over the past year, López has played professionally in New Zealand, all while appearing in Adidas campaigns and preparing to become the NBA’s first Mexico-born first-round draft pick.
“Once you’re in it, you see the strategy and how things are built,” López told Andscape. “It’s made me realize that being a modern player means understanding how your identity on the court connects with everything around it.”
This sports marketing education has created a class of NBA rookies who are more mature and brand-savvy than those before, benefiting both the athletes and Adidas.
“We are teaching them the business of footwear while they’re still teenagers,” Mason said. “When we signed our NIL talent, we didn’t treat them like high schoolers. We treat them like partners, leaning into their future pathway with the brand.”
That early investment is already paying off.
Each first-round pick will have a chance to play and potentially start right away in the NBA.
“If you’re waiting until a player is consensus No. 1 in mock drafts, you’re already too late,” Mason said. “Look at this draft class — we started early, almost four years in the making. You have to trust your scouts, your culture leads, your team and your gut.”
Adidas is already applying that approach to the next wave of talent, including Prolific Prep standout Bruce Branch III, who will play at BYU next year, and USC wing Alijah Arenas.
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The early approach shows a shift in the business that the amateur athletics world is still struggling to understand.
Mason says that the biggest misconception surrounding sports marketing and NIL is that it’s simply a bidding war. In reality, it’s often the mentality of an ascending athlete that shapes their NIL market rather than simply their ranking or measurables.
“Every case is different,” Mason said. “But I’ll say this: The right time [to sign an athlete] is when you see an alignment of authentic character, a relentless work ethic, and a distinct persona that shows they are the alpha male or female amongst their peers.”
For players, the benefit is just as clear.
“Honestly, it’s just huge because it lets you lock in on the game without worrying about all the extra noise,” Peterson said. “Getting that backing early means I can just put all my energy into getting better in the gym.”
As the 2026 draft class reports to NBA summer league, the pressure to perform will be the same for every rookie.
For the players who have already spent years inside Adidas’ system, the business side of the league is not.
“These athletes are arriving way more seasoned about their own brands and where they want to take it,” Mason said. “When we see that translation from digital fandom to physical product adoption, we know the ecosystem we built from NIL to the NBA is completely working.”