NBA x Action Figure Miles Collaborations & Partnerships

A circular badge with a dark blue background surrounded by a yellow, red, and yellow border. It features two crossed picks, a hammer, and a stylized mine entrance, with the words 'Denver Nuggets' around the top and bottom of the circle.

A yellow basketball with a stylized yellow arrow pointing to the right, on a black background.

Directed & Produced By GUB

Overview

What started as a single campaign with the Utah Jazz in 2024 grew into one of the most significant creative partnerships in Action Figure Miles history. Over the course of two years, AFM secured officially licensed collaborations with five NBA franchises and produced a collection for the 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend in San Francisco, bringing the AFM art style into arenas, retail shelves, and national distribution.

Each collection was custom designed per franchise, translating team identity, logos, and visual culture into the Action Figure Miles aesthetic. Apparel was sold both locally in team arenas and nationally through PacSun, reaching over 100 stores across the United States. Every collection sold out.

As the creative lead across this campaign, I oversaw production on all photography, video, and content deliverables. Beginning as a freelance director and producer on the first Utah Jazz collab before being brought on as Marketing Director at Action Figure Miles to oversee the full scope of the NBA partnership.

Group of young women walking on the street, some wearing casual outfits with hoodies and shorts, and one with a basketball.

Utah Jazz — Collaboration 1 (2024)

The partnership that started everything. The first Utah Jazz x Action Figure Miles collab was the entry point into the NBA licensing space and set the tone for everything that followed.

I directed and produced the campaign flagship video and oversaw the product photoshoot, both shot on location in Salt Lake City. To launch the collection, AFM hosted an experiential marketing activation outside the arena drawing roughly 1,000 attendees. The event featured a fashion runway, interactive booths for kids and families, a gaming activation with SSG Gaming, and live performances from Mike G and Rakeem Miles. I produced two recap videos capturing the event for social media.

The merch sold out within a week at the arena.

Campaign Flagship

Event Recap

Utah Jazz — Collaboration 2 (2025)

The second Utah Jazz collab leaned into the relationship the brand had built with the organization and the city. A full product photoshoot was produced in Salt Lake City alongside an exclusive tote bag sold in the Jazz store, the only tote produced across the entire NBA partnership.

The campaign culminated with Rakeem Miles courtside at a Jazz vs. Cavaliers game, where he was interviewed at halftime, featured on the arena jumbotron inside the Jazz store at halftime, and covered by Utah local news. The Jazz organization drove the media placement, a reflection of how invested they were in the partnership.

A black T-shirt with white text hanging on a white hanger against a purple wall. The text reads 'AFM x UTAH JAZZ' with a star symbol between 'AFM' and 'UTAH JAZZ'.

A black Utah Jazz t-shirt hanging on a white hanger, suspended on a metal arm stand against a purple background.

A woman sitting with one leg crossed in front of her and a man leaning on a chair with a bag, both in front of a concrete wall.

Young woman with dark hair wearing a cream long sleeve shirt with a colorful jazz-themed graphic design, and blue jeans, standing against a plain concrete wall.

A beige tote bag with a colorful cartoon character printed on it, featuring large eyes, a wide open mouth with teeth, and a blue tongue. The character has black, curly hair and is wearing a purple hat with the letters 'AFM' on it. Someone with tattoos on their hands is holding the bag by its handles.

NBA Collection — PacSun Distribution (2025)

The Utah Jazz partnership proved the concept. What followed was a full-scale expansion into the NBA licensing space.

Action Figure Miles secured officially licensed collections with four additional NBA franchises and produced a dedicated drop for the 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend in San Francisco, bringing the brand into new markets across the country and onto shelves alongside some of the biggest names in retail. The expansion was intentional. Rather than chasing the largest markets, we targeted franchises whose fanbases and city cultures we believed would resonate most deeply with the AFM brand world, communities where the intersection of sport, streetwear, and self-expression already existed and where Action Figure Miles had something real to say.

The design language across every collection held true to the AFM universe while being built around each franchise specifically. Team identity, visual culture, and the cultural fabric of each city informed how the Action Figure Miles aesthetic was applied, making each piece feel rooted in its market rather than generic licensed merchandise. The goal was never to slap a logo on a t-shirt. It was to make something fans actually wanted to wear because it felt like it belonged to their world. The LA Clippers collection, for example, drew from the barbershop culture woven into the fabric of Los Angeles, grounding the AFM character in a setting that felt immediately familiar to that fanbase.

Distribution ran through PacSun nationally, reaching over 100 stores across the United States, while each team's collection was also available locally through their respective channels. Every collection sold out.

My role across these collections was producing the product photography in Los Angeles, managing crew, logistics, and delivery of all assets for both PacSun and team use.