Michael Linklater didn’t entirely understand what was happening when Nike asked him to sign on to the company’s N7 campaign, thanks to a poor phone connection.
He couldn’t hear what the Nike representative was saying, and thought it would be a minor project.
“Once I actually got down and saw we were on Venice Beach and that the set and production was fairly big, I started to grasp how big this was going to be.”
The N7 Fund provides grants to Indigenous communities in support of sport and physical activity programs for youth, the company says. Linklater can now be seen modelling highlights of this year’s Nike N7 Collection as Nike tries to expand the N7 campaign into Canada.
Linklater started playing basketball on the outdoor court at St Mary’s Community School in Saskatoon – a basketball culture known as Rezball.
“My Rezball was there. And there was a lot of the Indigenous community, we knew that was the place to go and play ball. That’s where I fell in love with the game, and I aspired to get to the next level.”
His dream to play in the NBA didn’t come to pass, but he did play with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, played international 3 X 3 basketball and is finishing his career with the Saskatchewan Rattlers. He hopes he can inspire young Indigenous players, he said.
“Within the Indigenous community, especially down south, basketball is a big part of our communities. A lot of people pick up the ball and they just play. The Rezball campaign really speaks to how basketball is really embedded in our communities, and how it is intertwined within our culture,” he said.
“A lot of players who have gone on to play postsecondary, that have gone on to play Division 1 and professional, really got their start on a Rezball court. So Rezball is really talking about the basketball that’s being played on the reservations, or the reserves, and how a lot of people just fall in love with the game.”
