What's Your Favorite Basketball Commercial?
If we're being honest I'm not sure why this question popped into my head today. But the next thing I knew I was deep in a basketball commercial YouTube rabbit hole and I have to admit, I didn't hate it. I thought about making this just NBA commercials but I don't think that would do it justice since in my opinion some of the best commercials we've ever seen weren't specifically NBA related. I think it's safe to say that if you're around my age (33), you'll agree that some of the things I'm going to list were pretty influential to you as well as a youth. Before I give my list, here are some of the responses as of me writing this blog
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you get the idea. There are a bunch of classics out there and after some deep thought on the subject, this is my list. I was able to narrow it down to a top 7. Why 7? I don't know I just couldn't write this blog without including some of these so 7 is where I netted out. Don't be weird about it.
7. Jadakiss & AI Commercial
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That's right, we're starting off with one of the more popular commercials from my youth. This came out back in 2001 when AI was at the height of his powers and immediately upon hearing the beat and Jadakiss' voice my brain went back in time to when I was 14 years old. One of the most influential players of the early 2000s, this commercial was MASSIVE.
6. Larry & MJ McDonald's Commercial
The fact that Larry Legend and Michael Jordan are coming in at #6 for me gives you an idea of how loaded this blog is going to be. I mean I don't even really eat McDonald's and after watching that commercial I most definitely want a Big Mac. As we've seen in other commercials Larry's acting is Oscar Worthy, and I don't know why but this will always put a smile on my face. I like this one even more than the Larry vs Magic one so that should mean something.
5. KG's "I Remember"
OK let me be a bit of a homer for this one. I've done a very good job of not doing that shit during quarantine but I can't leave out the KG commercial. I just can't. Not only was this EXACTLY how everyone in the city of Boston felt, it was a trade that legit changed my life. If I really wanted to embrace being a homer I would have this higher on the list so once again credit to me, but this thing gives me chills 12 years later. I remember.
4. NBA Christmas Commercial
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In terms of an NBA commercial, doesn't get much better than this. I don't even truly understand how they did it and what goes into making that sort of video but then again that's why I'm a blogger. This hits you in the feels, it makes you wonder how awesome it would it would be if these pairings ever did play together, the music is perfect. Very very cool and it will be atop the NBA commercials standings for me for a long time.
3. Puppet LeBron & Kobe
Two of my greatest nemesis, there's no denying that these old commercials ruled out loud. These came out back in 2009 which is a pretty crazy mind fuck, and I have to admit there was a part of me that found myself actually liking Kobe and LeBron. If you remember what life was like for a Celts fan in 2009, that's pretty amazing. Between the CLE battles with LeBron and the Finals battles with Kobe, I wanted to hate these but I couldn't.
2. Everything Lil' Penny
I'm sorry, but Lil Penny might very well be the GOAT. I don't care what you think of this list, but if you hate on Lil Penny I don't even want your pageview. You can have that shit back and then go stand in the corner for 45 minutes in time out. Don't overthink this. Lil Penny changed the basketball commercial game. Period. Some might even call him iconic, to which I would agree.
1. Nike Dribbling Commercial
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For me, this is my favorite basketball commercial of all time. I remember buying the pair of Nikes where they gave you this thing on VHS as well. VHS! Few things scream my childhood like this commercial. We all tried those same moves and failed miserably (don't lie to yourself). If you didn't then I don't even want to know you. The beat and simplicity was perfect. It holds up almost 20 years later.
So that's my list. Quite frankly I don't know how anyone could object but I'm sure there are some others that people love. It's subjective minus the last two on my list. Now it's your turn. If you had to maybe give a top 5 of favorite basketball commercials, what would it be?