Envision a pristine, indoor basketball court in the middle of New York City that was once a ballroom where Frank Sinatra used to perform in the 1950’s. A court where numerous legendary Jordan Brand athletes, such as Michael Jordan, Chris Paul, and Carmelo Anthony, have trained and attended exclusive events, and even Justin Bieber has made an appearance. Yes, this place does exist (just steps away from the main stage of Madison Square Garden), and MSBA 2016 had the opportunity to play on its seasoned floor. Terminal 23 is one of the most iconic basketball facilities you have never heard of. The building is owned and operated by Jordan Brand, and consists of a full basketball court, weight room, locker rooms, a design studio, and even a private barbershop.
“MSBA has truly given me experiences that I never imagined I would have the opportunity to do.”
While at Terminal 23, we learned more about Jordan Brand from Max Saidman and Kwynn Butts, both Brand Marketing Managers for the company. Max talked about how essential storytelling is within the brand marketing industry, as relating to your consumer and connecting them to your brand is how you create customer loyalty. You want the consumer to develop an emotional attachment to the brand through your storytelling. Max and Kwynn showed us videos of a few brand activations that took place at Terminal 23 this past year. For instance, when Carmelo Anthony’s M12 shoe was released, Jordan Brand invited high schoolers to Terminal 23 to work out and surprised them with an appearance by Carmelo Anthony, who showed up to give them a few words of motivation.
After the Speaker Series with Max and Kwynn, we were each provided a custom Jordan Brand jersey, shorts, and shoes to workout in on the court. We had a professional Nike Basketball trainer warm us up before we started playing a few games of 5-on-5. The games were not taken too seriously considering only a few of us have actually played basketball before. However, we all had a blast laughing and enjoying the once-in-a-lifetime experience on the Terminal 23 basketball court.
MSBA has truly given me experiences that I never imagined I would have the opportunity to do. It is crazy to think that I have been living in New York City for the past five weeks; the days may be long, but the weeks are flying by. I am so fortunate that I was selected to be a part of such a prestigious and exciting opportunity. The friends that I’ve made through MSBA will now be friends for the rest of my life, and I am looking forward to these last few weeks of one of the best summers I have ever had.