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A casino in Las Vegas is ripe for a takedown, and Michael Imperioli has just the crew for the job, though these would-be thieves may have a tough time blending into the crowd.
To hype its inaugural In-Season Tournament, the NBA drops a stylized homage to Ocean’s Eleven with basketball superstars in key roles in a swagger-filled crime-lite caper.
Acting as “the mastermind,” former Sopranos wise guy Imperioli leads viewers through the fast-paced short film where the decorated athletes stalk their prize—the NBA Cup.
With “The Heist,” the NBA co-opted a “high-energy, high-stakes format” aiming to “evoke that feeling of eager anticipation” for its new venture, Tammy Henault, the NBA’s CMO, told Adweek.
In scenes that mimic the hit Steven Soderbergh franchise—and countless movies and TV series since—the nearly 2-minute ad highlights the particular skills of the Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young (“ice water in his veins”), Chicago Bulls’ DeMar DeRozan (“light on his feet”), New York Knicks’ Julius Randle (“a guy with laser focus”).
Additional muscle and experience comes from “the heavy” (Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers), “the lookout” (Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers), “the vet” (Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors) and “the inside man” (Kawhi Leonard, L.A. Clippers).
Does this squad end up with the trophy? Spoiler: They’ll have to work a little harder for it.
‘Uncharted territory’
The new In-Season Tournament, featuring all 30 NBA teams, takes its cues from popular international soccer contests.
The campaign around it has two main goals: educating core and casual fans about the new competition, and spotlighting the league’s early-season schedule that leads into the In-Season Tournament’s November and December semi-finals and championship rounds in Vegas.
The NBA sees its marketing for the regular season and the new contest as having “distinct but complementary messages,” said Henault, who pointed out the challenge of being in “uncharted territory.”
“With no precedent in place in the NBA for a tournament like this, we had to start from square one with how we wanted the campaign to look and what we wanted fans to feel,” Henault said. “We also wanted to showcase a different storytelling approach than some of the creative we’ve gone with in the past, making sure fans know how the new tournament works, when and where to tune in and what it all means.”