The first-ever jersey patch partnership for G League Ignite comes from a source with plenty of history in professional basketball.
Drake’s “October’s Very Own” (OVO) brand will become G League Ignite‘s official practice jersey patch partner, it announced on Wednesday. This marks the team’s first-ever practice jersey patch partnership.
The Nevada-based Ignite was formed to play exhibition games outside the G League’s traditional scheduling as part of a one-year development program for top NBA prospects. Since forming in 2020, six players have been selected in the NBA Draft, namely the Rockets’ No. 2 overall pick Jalen Green.
As part of the collaboration, the OVO logo will be prominently featured on the right chest of the team’s practice jerseys. Additionally, OVO will have an expanded presence at Ignite home games with on-court branding at The Dollar Loan Center. OVO and the Ignite will also create custom video series showcasing Ignite players in select OVO collections.
Drake’s connections in the NBA space run deep — and this is just the latest way he’s incorporated his OVO brand into the conversation. The artist/mogul has been the Raptors’ global ambassador since 2013 after GM Masai Ujiri brought him into the organization to usher in a “new era” of Raptors basketball. It’s near-impossible to miss him sitting courtside at Raptors’ games.
OVO x NBA
Ahead of the 2021-22 NBA season, the Drake-owned clothing brand (OVO) partnered with the NBA for an “exclusive capsule collection celebrating six iconic World Champion franchises.” Those franchises included the Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, and New York Knicks, and all were hosted on the artist’s clothing brand website.
OVO x Raptors
Part of Drake’s role as global ambassador is getting the Raptors brand name out there as much as possible. Let’s look at a quick timeline with the team.
- January 8, 2014: The first annual installment of “Drake Night” was implemented. Fans received a special OVO Drake Night x Toronto Raptors shirt and several artists performed. They later incorporated the two brands in the 2014 playoffs.
- Game 2 of the playoff series vs. the Brooklyn Nets in 2014: Drake was caught on camera sitting courtside using a lint roller on his pants. He turned it into another branding opportunity, creating OVO x Raptors lint rollers.
- March 2015: Raptors, OVO, and Mitchell & Ness released a Spring Collection. The collection featured an assortment of different apparel — the first time the black and gold Raptors logo was available to the general public for purchase.
- October 2015: OVO x Raptors jerseys were unveiled. Drake wore the jersey at his 6ixth Annual OVO Fest, which turned into the Raptors OVO ‘Alternate’ jerseys less than two months later.
The team has now worn four different OVO x Raptors jerseys since.
OVO x NBA x New ERA
In early October, New ERA announced an OVO x NBA cap featuring all teams’ logos, brought to life with rich gold embroidery across the full length of the black base. The hat, also on October’s Very Own website, sold out for $98 apiece.
Drake x WNBA
Drizzy has been vocal about owning a WNBA expansion team in Toronto.
“I need a Toronto team,” he wrote on Instagram while tagging the official WNBA account.
Drake has supported women’s sports for quite a while. Back in the summer of 2021, the four-time Grammy winner was seen wearing the WNBA’s iconic orange hoodie, a few years after referencing then-Aces forward Liz Cambage in Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode” track.
Clearly, Drake is no stranger to hoops, and he’s made his brand a major part of basketball culture — whether it’s the league as a whole, Raptors, WNBA, or G League Ignite. Now, top players like Scoot Henderson will have some dope OVO practice jerseys to flex.
Watch this space. It’s starting with a patch and future video production, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if he branched out further with more apparel.
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