At the start of the 2008-09 season NBA, Derek Fisher was a three-time champion, had several clutch performances to his name, and was recognized as one of the true veteran leaders in the NBA. Yet he had no online presence of any kind.

When we began working with Derek, we had immediate and long-term goals. In the short term, we sought to capitalize on his return to the Los Angeles Lakers, and what might result from a team with championship caliber talent. Looking ahead, we wanted to solidify the key elements of Derek’s brand, and highlight those qualities in anticipation of future on and off the court opportunities.

The home page of DerekFisher2.com.

Beginning with his web site, we made sure to emphasize the most noteworthy historical moments of his career: his famous 0.4 shot, and his return to Utah after helping his daughter face cancer. We clarified his the role he had played throughout his career as a leader, from his first days with the Lakers to Golden State and Utah, and back to Los Angeles. Then, we began building his networks on Twitter and Facebook.

A night during the 2008-09 playoffs provided an unanticipated opportunity to build Derek’s social media profile. In Game 2 against the Houston Rockets, Derek was called for a hard foul on Houston’s Luis Scola. In the aftermath, he was suspended for the following game and accused by the Rockets of being a dirty player. The next day, we filmed Derek at practice giving his version of the foul, and posted the video on his web site and through his Twitter account. The video was picked up by a number of outlets, including ESPN.com, which led to the writing of several stories and blog posts -- all of which mitigated the negative perception of Derek, and actually supported his characterization of the foul as rough but fair contact in the course of normal play. 

Derek commented on the Game 3 of the 2008-2009 Western Conference semifinals from his hotel room via Twitter.

The video also kept the attention on Derek, and he decided to use it to his advantage, announcing that he would be tweeting from his hotel room throughout Game 3. He did just that, and in less than 48 hours, his Twitter following grew from 23,000 to more than 48,000 people.

It was the start of what would eventually evolve into a potent network of online properties, all of which would support Derek as he pursued league titles. By late in the 2009-10 season, Derek had several hundred thousand followers across his social networks, and the reach of our content was significant. As Derek's free agent negotiations approached, we released a series of exclusive interviews across his online network that spoke to his relationship to the city of Los Angeles, the intangibles he brought to the Lakers as a veteran leader, and his storied history with the franchise. A month and a half after winning the 2009-10 NBA title -- Derek's fifth championship -- he also signed a new, multi-year contract with the Lakers.

Today, Derek -- one of Los Angeles' captains and the president of the NBA Players Association -- has more than 625,000 followers on Twitter, 125,000 on Facebook, and remains one of the faces of the Lakers’ franchise.

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