‘You cannot tell me that an NBA legend can’t afford a birthday cake for his kid,’ bakery owner says.
A Vancouver bakery is calling out a former NBA star after receiving a not-so-sweet request.
Oh Sweet Day Bake Shop opened at the intersection of Commercial Drive and East 1st Avenue in 2019 after owner Fanny Lam built a following at farmers’ markets. In 2025, a second Oh Sweet Day opened in Port Moody.
As a small food business, Lam says they often get requests for free products and collaborations for exposure, including from charities, corporations and influencers.
“We’re certainly not against collaborations or giving back. We regularly try to contribute to our community when we feel the cause or partnership is a good fit. However, there is an important distinction between a genuine collaboration and simply asking a small business to give something away,” she tells Vancouver Is Awesome by email.
A request for ‘collaboration’ with bakery
Recently, she got an email that seemed to fit in the latter category.
It was from a representative of former NBA star Metta World Peace and his wife asking about “collaborating.”
The email doesn’t specifically ask for a free cake. Instead, it talks about a birthday party for the couple’s child in Richmond. It goes on to say a few local vendors are being asked if they’d like to “feature as part of the day” and be tagged in posts about the birthday party.
“The family has a strong social media following and will be sharing the celebration across their platforms, including posts/stories crediting and tagging vendors involved,” continues the email.
Lam says it’s a familiar request that doesn’t explicitly ask for free cake, but implies the payment would be exposure, not cash. She also notes that money or payment isn’t mentioned once in the email.
“You cannot tell me that an NBA legend can’t afford a birthday cake for his kid, and asks a small bakery making approximately 0.0001 [per cent] of his fortune for a free cake,” reads a post from the bakery, which includes a screen capture of the email.
Request raises question about culture of asking small businesses for ‘exposure,’ baker says
Metta World Peace (formerly known as Ron Artest and sometimes known as Metta Sandiford-Artest) is a retired NBA All-Star and champion who was named defensive player of the year in 2004. He also garnered headlines for a brawl he was involved in (resulting in the longest NBA suspension ever at the time) and for changing his name to Metta World Peace.
He’s also launched multiple business ventures, including Artest Management Group (a business development and brand consulting business), XvsX (a basketball technology company) and The Panda’s Friend (a clothing brand).
Recently, he’s been in B.C. coaching at kids’ basketball camps, and his family has been spending time in the area. His wife, Maya Ford, is a UBC graduate.
After posting the email, Lam says most people have been outraged by the request. At the same time, she’s received an email from Ford, who has asked for the post to be removed and explained that it was sent by an assistant.
“However, there was no apology or acknowledgement of why the original request might have felt inappropriate to a small business,” Lam says.
She notes that businesses can’t run on exposure and there needs to be a broader discussion about why smaller businesses are often asked to provide complimentary goods and services to those who can afford to pay for them.
“It raises a bigger question about the culture of asking small businesses for free products in exchange for ‘exposure,'” she explains.
“Our bakery has grown primarily through word of mouth and the support of paying customers. Exposure is not our main focus. Exposure doesn’t pay bills!”
Vancouver Is Awesome reached out to the Artest Management Group and Metta World Peace but didn’t hear back by publication time.
The image of Metta World Peace is licensed via Creative Commons.