DoorDash Becomes NBA’s Official Delivery Partner, Leads Push To Support Black-Owned Restaurants

DoorDash and the NBA reached a multi-year agreement Monday that makes it the official on-demand delivery platform for the NBA, WNBA, NBA 2K League and the G-League in time for the start of the NBA playoffs. It’s also starting the #PlayItForward Challenge, a social media campaign led by 10 NBA stars aimed to raise awareness for and support Black-owned restaurants in communities across the United States.

Bradley Beal, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Aaron Gordon, Jrue Holiday, CJ McCollum, Donovan Mitchell, Ja Morant, Jamal Murray, Victor Oladipo and Dennis Schröder are all participating in the social media campaign. As part of the challenge, DoorDash will donate $1 to the National Urban League for every order on its platform placed from a Black-owned restaurant until the end of August, up to $100,000. It’s also waiving delivery fees on orders placed from participating Black-owned restaurants through the end of 2020.

“We’re always looking for ways to double down and get the message out around how to grow local economies and get the best out of communities,” said Tony Xu, DoorDash’s co-founder and CEO. “We’ve been chatting with the NBA for a while now about how potentially to work together in meaningful ways, not just highlighting entertainment but also confronting some of the real challenges that we face as a society.”

Xu was very enthusiastic about what he said were the shared cultural values DoorDash and the NBA have, with the NBA used as a platform to give a voice to difficult societal issues like ones facing the Black community. One of those longstanding issues, Xu said, was empowering the underrepresented, in this case restaurants and other businesses that use DoorDash as a delivery logistics service.

Though he celebrates his 21st birthday just a week ago, Morant has already become a household name not just in Memphis with the Grizzlies but throughout the NBA. The presumptive league Rookie of the Year just finished his first season in the league over the weekend at the Orlando bubble and said that DoorDash happened to be a big part of his life.

“I use DoorDash a lot normally when we’re traveling as a team, so I’m a big fan,” he said. “It makes my job easier and it’s quick. And once they reached out about the #PlayItForward challenge, I became an even bigger fan.”

NBA players have these huge platforms and Morant is no exception, with 3.2 million Instagram followers and nearly 700,000 on Twitter. And while saying Black Lives Matter is good, acting on that and making it more than just a slogan is even better.

“It’s people like Ja who want to stand for more than just basketball,” Xu said. “And I think that’s not just because of how they view themselves, but really how they view themselves at this moment with the platforms that they each individually have.”

Morant is focused on driving business towards Chef Tam’s Underground Cafe in Memphis, but DoorDash will highlight Black-owned restaurants across the country that deserve the spotlight, like Ezell’s in Seattle and Lena’s Soul Food in Oakland.

“Black-owned businesses, like other underrepresented groups, could all use a level playing field,” Xu said. “All of this is really to promote the equality of opportunity. All of these businesses are amazing in their own right not just because they serve delicious food but because they were founded by amazing entrepreneurs.”

DoorDash launched a program in July where restaurants can claim they’re Black-owned businesses and then be highlighted on its app. And since that initiative began, search volume for Black-owned restaurants increased 275x in frequency from June to July, Xu said, resulting in a 50% increase in sales.

When Morant is playing road games, he said he may use DoorDash two to three times a day, depending on which city he’s in. His father usually cooks for him when he’s at home, but when Morant wants to give dad a break, he’ll try out different Memphis restaurants like Chef Tam’s. That food he got at home or at local restaurants at DoorDash is one of the things he missed while inside the bubble.

“I definitely missed being able to go out and do what I want and go wherever I want to and eat wherever,” Morant said. “Memphis is my home now and I was still getting comfortable there, and having to come to Orlando after finally getting settled and comfortable in Memphis was tough.”

As part of the partnership, DoorDash will become an associate partner at NBA All-Star weekend and the first ever presenting partner of the NBA 2K League playoffs and finals.

“I feel like it’s big time,” Morant said of the partnership and social media campaign, “especially with everything that’s going on.”