• Loading stock data...
Monday, August 25, 2025
The biggest names in sports media. All in one room. Buy tickets now!

Baron Davis and POINT 3 Want to Disrupt Basketball Apparel With Towel-Like Technology

Photo credit: Baron Davis
baron-davis-point-3-towel-technology

Photo credit: Baron Davis

Walking around Charlotte in 1999, the locals saw an unfamiliar sight: Baron Davis and former North Carolina State Senator Marshall Rauch.

“I remember being a 20-year-old rookie and him sitting me down and asking me, ‘What do you know about finances?’” Davis says. “I told him I didn’t know a lot, but I knew enough and he taught me a lot. People would see an 80-year-old Jewish man and a young black dude with a durag on his head, sitting, having breakfast or lunch in Charlotte at one of these uppity, uptown places. It was just like, ‘How do those two know each other?’”

Davis was drafted by the Hornets in 1999 after two years at UCLA. He’d grown up in Los Angeles, and Charlotte was his first excursion outside of Hollywood. Davis was introduced to Rauch by Michael Holton, a UCLA assistant and friend of Rauch. Holton played for the Hornets from 1988-1990.

Fast-forward to 2019. It’s Friday of NBA All-Star Weekend and Davis is back in Charlotte. This time, he is hanging with Michael Luscher and Mikko Simon, CEO and COO, respectively, of Atlanta-based POINT 3 Basketball.

READ MORE: Overtime Brings Billboard and Investment News to NBA All-Star Weekend

Davis has recently committed an investment with POINT 3, finalized at the end of Q3 in 2018. He will also serve as creative director. Founded by Luscher in 2010, POINT 3 specializes in basketball attire and is best known for its DRYV Moisture Control Technology. DRYV is a towel-like material that can be incorporated into performance apparel such as basketball jerseys and shorts.

“I’d be in this hot gym in the summer of ‘09 in Atlanta and I would sweat so much, dripping down my arms and saturating my hands with moisture,” Luscher says of POINT 3’s origin. “I’d have trouble controlling the ball, so I would steal my wife’s kitchen towel and hang it over my waistband, like a quarterback does, so I could dry my hands off without leaving the court.”

Luscher also has a valuable asset to this material he can bring to investors. In 2014, POINT 3 was given a patent for its “moisture control garment.”

“I think the protectable IP was a big part of it,” Luscher says on Davis’ decision to partner with the brand. Luscher and Davis did not disclose the amount, but Luscher calls it “significant.”

Investing with Baron Davis is about more than him writing a check. When Davis got to Charlotte, he was not wired like most 20-year-old rookies. He interned at a law firm while in college, and in his first few years in the NBA, he would spend summers working for his agent. Just a few seasons into his career, Davis started his own sports agency, negotiating marketing deals and investing in brands.

Davis’ mentor, Rauch, was also once displaced in North Carolina. Rauch was born and raised in New York City before going to Duke in 1940 to play basketball. He never left, serving in the state senate from 1967-1990. Outside of politics, the World War II veteran was a successful businessman running Rauch Industries Inc., a national Christmas ornament manufacturer from 1954-1998. Rauch is considered to have been the “largest Christmas ornament maker in the world” at one point.

[mc4wp_form id=”8260″]

“He was an entrepreneur, he was self-made and he just showed me how to take care of myself, how to take care of my family and the future,” Davis explains. “He taught me what money means, what possessions mean, what things mean in life. It’s really about the opportunities that I get from taking advantage of them and about building a community of people that you can be in business with and where you have great relationships with.”

POINT 3 is far from Davis’ first investment and it will be far from his last. But it is a rare Davis investment into the basketball industry.

Davis has been in hundreds, if not thousands of pitches. At this point, he knows roughly what he is looking for.

“What are they doing? What is their mission? What does the brand look like?” Davis says about analyzing a company. “It’s the law of attraction. After that, it’s about, what do the operations look like? What is the vision of the entrepreneur? Where does this sell? What does the trajectory look like? And then for me, once I start to see that, I start to see where I could help and assist. Me, being a creative person and a visionary, are our visions aligned? Or, maybe they have the vision and I can jump in and support and accelerate it.”

Like any good relationship, potential investors with Davis need to play the long game. It was a process getting pen to paper between POINT 3 and Davis. Luscher and Davis were originally introduced by Josh Gotthelf, co-founder of Dime Magazine and former general manager of Baron Davis Enterprises. Gotthelf, an advisor and investor to POINT 3, connected Luscher and Davis. After all, Davis was constantly coming in to Atlanta for his work with Turner Sports, and he could use a friend.

Davis and Luscher would meet for meals or drinks. As they bounced ideas off each other, the meetings became more frequent.

“He found something that we could connect to,” Davis says. “Not just through basketball, it was more so fashion. I think over lunch, another lunch, we just kept building and talking about all forms of fashion, athleisure, sports performance, things like that. It took us a while to get to the deal, but when we looked up, we had built a friendship. And so it made the deal easy to get done because we were both wanting to make it happen. Sometimes things happen like that through building a relationship and having commonalities and likenesses.

“And then I thought, here’s a basketball brand that can be disruptive. They’re not trying to compete with the big boys, but there’s an understanding of where they are and understanding the community and the audience that they can serve.”

Disruption is a big word. And it means big-time. Shaking up an industry dominated by Nike, Adidas and Under Armour would send shockwaves through the basketball world.

“I think first and foremost was Baron’s desire to not accept the current paradigm and try and disrupt the industry,” Luscher says.

“His creative vision, his contacts, his ideas. That’s when the more we met and started talking about it, I was like, ‘This guy can really be a difference maker to our business.’”

According to Luscher, Davis’ partnership helped “leverage our reach in the team space to supercharge our direct-to-consumer growth strategy” in Q4 of last year. He says the brand saw a 300-percent year-over-year growth in direct-to-consumer online business during that time.

READ MORE: Bojangles’ Channels Its Inner LeBron James for NBA All-Star Weekend

Davis plans to work with POINT 3 to connect with AAU coaches and friends from the NBA world to help grow the brand, while also incorporating current brands he partners with. Under the Baron Davis Enterprises umbrella are four companies he founded: Sports and Lifestyle in Culture, The Black Santa Company, BIG and No Label. Davis was also recently announced as part of Overtime’s $23 million Series B round of funding.

“It’s been maybe decades since anybody made a meaningful innovation to basketball apparel,” Gotthelf says. “And this sweat-drying technology, being able to dry your hands on your basketball shorts, is the first true game-changer in the basketball apparel space in maybe 20 years. And the fact that it’s a protected patent, I know is a big part of what brings value to that investment.”

For Marshall Rauch, it was about ornaments. For Michael Luscher, it’s about towel material.

But above all for Baron Davis, it’s about connections. On Sunday before the All-Star Game, he hosted his “BIG Brunch & Convo” event. Luscher and Rauch (who is 96) were both in the room.

Maybe they can brainstorm a crossover ornament-DRYV idea.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

The Honey Deuce Effect: How Tennis Perfected the Signature Cocktail

Sold every 1.5 seconds, they total more than $12 million in sales.
Dec 21, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) warms up as the Texas Longhorns prepare to play the Clemson Tigers in the first round of the College Football Playoffs at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium.

Schools Are Hesitant to Allow PE Into Their Athletic Departments

Regardless of budget, schools don’t believe the risk is worth the reward.
Malik Beasley

Malik Beasley Could Still Be Charged in Gambling Probe Despite Feds Dropping..

Beasley’s lawyer is hoping his client can return to the NBA.
Oct 2, 2024; Rosemont, IL, USA; Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti speaks with the media during the 2024 Big Ten Women’s Basketball media day at Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.

‘Not Ready to Jump In’: Power 4 Commissioners Aren’t Sold on PE

Top leaders in college sports have yet to see a satisfactory proposal.

Featured Today

Nov 23, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin looks at quarterback Drew Allar (15) during the first quarter against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Huntington Bank Stadium.

Private Equity Enters College Sports—Without the Equity

As college football starts, lending agreements have become PE’s best way in.
Sep 8, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants running back Eric Gray (20) returns a kickoff against the Minnesota Vikings during the first half at MetLife Stadium.
August 18, 2025

‘Fauxbacks’ Throw Back to a Retro Uniform That Never Existed

Many throwback jerseys are brand-new designs or “Franken-Unis.”
August 17, 2025

‘Labubu Gang’: The Creepy-Cute Dolls Sweeping Pro Sports

The creepy-cute doll is the hottest collectible—and fashion statement.
Middle Tennessee wide receiver Cam'ron Lacy (86) catches a pass and carries the ball during the season final home football game against New Mexico State on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024.
August 15, 2025

How Middle Tennessee State Added $668,000 to Its NIL Budget

The Blue Raiders are creating a new blueprint for cutting costs.
Samuel Basallo

Orioles Give Catcher Record Extension Amid Adley Rutschman’s Stunning Fall

Samuel Basallo’s reported $67M deal would be a record for pre-arbitration catchers.
August 20, 2025

Tony Hawk Finds His Enduring Fame ‘Baffling’

The skateboarder said it’s “still kind of a shock” to be recognized.
Aug 20, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) celebrates in the second half as LA Sparks guard Rae Burrell (12) watches at Crypto.com Arena.
August 21, 2025

Paige Bueckers Wowing Crowds, Selling Jerseys Despite Wings Losses

Bueckers is second in youth jersey sales.
Sponsored

Building A Pro League From Scratch

Front Office Sports and Gainbridge® spotlight what it takes to build a professional women’s soccer league.
August 20, 2025

Struggling Kyle Tucker Benched Shortly After $600M Contract Buzz

The Cubs take action with their star outfielder ahead of his free agency.
August 20, 2025

Sophie Cunningham Receives 3rd WNBA Fine for Criticizing Refs

This is Cunningham’s third fine in about a month.
Daniel Jones
August 20, 2025

Vikings Set to Benefit from Colts Making Daniel Jones Starter

Jones never played a snap for Minnesota.
Aug 17, 2025; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Connecticut Sun center Tina Charles (31) and Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) work for the ball in the first half at Mohegan Sun Arena.
August 19, 2025

Sophie Cunningham’s Torn MCL Yet Another Fever Setback

The Fever guard is out for the remainder of the season.