Since the NBA lockout officially ended, teams have been busy making trades, signing free agents, and trying to hold some kind of semblance of training camp as rosters keep shifting and changing. The league has used the time to stop a few different trades for Chris Paul, who plays for the league-owned New Orleans Hornets, and call on key advertisers to get things rolling again.

So far, Anheuser-Busch InBev, PepsiCo’s Gatorade brand, and AutoTrader.com have all signed on to be advertisers with the league again, according to the Wall Street Journal. To the relief of the NBA and NBC, the fact that the season (which starts on Christmas Day) will be 16 games shorter than usual hasn’t affected a single marketing partnership.Continue reading...

Remember the launch of Carmelo Anthony's M8 Jordan Brand shoe back in October? Well, Melo's at it again — this time with a Christmas themed shoe for the Nike-owned Jordan Brand. The occasion? All NBA games will start on Christmas Day as a result of the just-resolved lockout, which saw Brand Jordan himself at odds with fans and players alike as Michael Jordan sided with his fellow team owners in the labor dispute.