The NBA season kicks off tonight with the LeBron James leading the champions Cleveland Cavaliers out on the floor against the New York Knicks. After the record-setting and emotion-bursting events of last season, big things are expected of the champs and of their superstar.
In time for tip-off, sportwear giant Nike has gone to its clutch marketing team to produce its new commercial starring LeBron, focusing on the game/championship winning block James did on the Warriors’ Andre Iguodala in Game 7 of the finals. It was a block that will go down in basketball history after it solidified the Cavaliers’ out-of-nowhere NBA championship.
Nike remembers it, too—and has made it the center of their new black-and-white ad.
The ad highlights James’ previous underdog status, both during the 2016 NBA Finals and as a kid who grew up in Akron, Ohio – but as James says in the ad, you never know which move will be “the defining moment of your career.”