Opening gyms, balling with bands, looking to local heroes and generally spreading the love—all for a game. Converse basketball. Real and Raw.
Open the door, roll out a ball, pick up a game. That’s Open Gym, and since its launch in November of 2007 over 26,000 kids in Atlanta, Chicago and Philadelphia have come over to play. By July of this year our roster will include three more cities, but as for now in Atlanta, the better part of 500 kids are showing up every other weekend to Georgia Tech and Morehouse College to play, meet our athletes—and each other, customize product, sit with our barber and generally be part of the game we’ve always loved.
The places we come from and the communities we belong to—these things connect us. The same goes for these eight Atlanta legends. Each embodies the talent, spirit and essence of the city, connecting kids to local heroes and making the game of basketball a little more accessible. We’ll honor them by making their stories our stories—and our advertising.
Seven teams—made up of musicians the likes of Jermaine Dupri, Jim Jones and Of Montreal—competing in a round robin basketball tournament in a gym small enough to allow fans a front row seat to the show, followed by an after-party with DJ sets and some southern BBQ. All because there’s really no way you can have one without the other.
