Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Saturday, July 5th. Today on Forbes, how New Balance went from

Dadshue to scoring the number one NBA draft prospect. In 2023, before Cooper Flagg was the top

player in college basketball and the presumptive number one pick in this year's NBA draft,

New Balance chief marketing officer Chris Davis issued an audacious challenge to one of his top lieutenants.

As Navine Lokesh recalls, his boss dropped a recent issue of Slam magazine with Duke's prized

freshman on the cover onto his desk and then said, quote, go get this guy.

The odds certainly weren't in New Balance's favor. Although just 17 years old at the time,

Flag had already dazzled scouts for years with his elite athleticism and seemingly clairvoyant playmaking ability, leading to a reputation as one of the best teenage prospects

this century, alongside

other number one draft picks LeBron James, Zion Williamson, and Victor Wembeyanma.

And that sky-high potential had sneaker companies dreaming of the financial windfall he could unlock.

But while the Boston-based New Balance, which posted $7.8 billion in revenue last year,

could hardly match the resources of Nike, which had $51 billion in 2024 revenue,

or Adidas, which had $26 billion, it did have one edge over the competition.

Flagg grew up in Newport, Maine, about 25 miles east of the privately held New Balance's manufacturing

facility in Schohegan. And the now 18-year-old phenom tells Forbes he still remembers shopping

with his mom at the factory's annual tent sale for backpacks, clothes, and sneakers every school year.

So when it came time to pitch flag at a Calabasasas

hotel with other sneaker brands waiting outside, New Balance led with a personal touch,

unveiling a tribute video shot at the Schohegan factory that Lokesh says, quote,

let the associates that have been working in Maine for 20 years speak for us.

New Balance was successful,

...