Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is one of the NBA’s greats appearing in the campaign. NBA
The NBA is rolling out new creative around its upcoming 75th anniversary featuring a short film called “NBA Lane,” the latest promotional effort highlighting the league’s landmark season.
The three-minute short film to be used in the league’s “NBA 75” campaign is a first for the league as it begins to activate around the milestone.
Featuring actor and producer Michael B. Jordan, the film includes some of the biggest names and moments in the league’s history in a trip down memory lane. A neighborhood “Hoop Bus” driven by Jordan takes a group of kids on a tour of a fictional neighborhood called NBA Lane that houses 75 years of basketball culture.
The film will feature current and former NBA stars in everyday settings such as LeBron James tending to a garden, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird becoming friendly neighbors, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar teaching a hook shot to former Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki.
More than 30 current and former players will be featured.
The campaign rollout will begin Oct. 4, with the league announcing the premiere date of the film and release of the official trailer. The film will premiere across NBA social and digital platforms on Oct. 7, with an Oct. 10 debut across TV channels.
The league also will create 30-second and 60-second spots from the film to be used throughout the 2021-22 season. The NBA partnered with agency Translation on the project.
“NBA Lane is a place where current players, legends and fans all live together,” said Kate Jhaveri, chief marketing officer of the NBA. “It’s fiction, but it feels real. It speaks not just to the past but also to the present of the game.”
Chris Paul is shown in front of the “Hoop Bus” that will traverse the make-believe neighborhood. NBA
So why the three-minute short film concept instead of the conventional 30-second and 60-second spot approach? “It’s hard to bring 75 years into one spot,” Jhaveri said. “It ended up about three minutes, but it could have been a whole lot longer.”
The short film and spots will replace the previous “That’s Game” ads launched last season.
“‘That’s Game’ and the principles of advancing the game of basketball are still a key part of how we are thinking about the season, but we won’t be using the tag line,” Jhaveri said.
The “NBA Lane” campaign joins an already heavy promotional effort around the league’s 75th anniversary season, which starts Oct. 19. Other major initiatives include:
75th Anniversary Team:A panel of media, current and former players, coaches, general managers and team executives will select a 75th Anniversary Team, featuring the 75 greatest players of all time. The team will be announced this month.
NBA 75 Logo:A commemorative logo will be used throughout the season on courts and in arenas, on official NBA merchandise and in broadcast, digital and social media content.
New NBA Uniforms:Nike will mark the 75th anniversary with diamond-embellished jersey details and new Classic Edition and City Edition uniforms. New Era also will integrate the 75th diamond logo on its Tip Off Edition caps.
New Game Ball:Wilson will debut its new official game ball partnership at the start of the season. Wilson was the NBA’s official game ball for the league’s first 37 seasons, from 1946-1983. Spalding took over in 1983 and held those rights through this past season.
