• Client: NBA
• Agency: Mother, NY, and NBA Entertainment
• Principals: For NBA Entertainment: Scott Weinstock, senior creative director; Adam Levitt, director. For Mother: Linus Karlsson, creative director; Rob DeFlorio, founding partner
• Media buy: Network and cable in-game NBA telecasts and various day parts on rights holders ABC/ESPN, TNT, Fox Sports Net, MTV and Spike TV.
• Summary: One of a collection of NBA spots designed to push TV viewership of the NBA’s postseason and push awareness of the Lawrence O’Brien trophy.
This one was picked No. 1 by NBA.com voters as of last week. In this iteration, San Antonio’s Tim Duncan seeks counsel from his “doctor,” Julius Erving, on the trophy’s “lack of commitment.” Doc remembers his love from back in 1983, but Duncan doesn’t want to hear about former suitors of the object of his affection.
Grades
B- for overall creative. Doc’s thespian abilities are up to par; Duncan’s are pedestrian enough that now we think we know why an athlete of his stature hasn’t appeared in many ads.
B- for use of sports as a marketing vehicle. Amusing pairing of retro and current NBA stars, but we’ve seen better scripts.