Watch: NBA releases star-studded commercial to hype misguided in-season tournament
The NBA really wants its new in-season tournament to succeed. But the league's new commercial makes clear that it's a money grab.
Adam Silver recruited "Sopranos" star Michael Imperioli for a commercial promoting the brand-new in-season tournament, where four teams will compete for the inaugural NBA Cup in Las Vegas in December. The ad evokes "Ocean's Eleven," the hit film about a motley crew going to Las Vegas to steal millions of dollars. But that might not be sending the best message about the NBA's new event.
The biggest problem that this tournament faces is the lack of stakes in it for fans. There are lucrative stakes for the players involved, as players on the winning team will get $500K each, and second-place finishers will get $200K. That's a big incentive for the players, and clearly the league is hoping to rake in money from the tournament for new television deals.
Essentially, it's an elaborate cash grab for the NBA. And they're even advertising it as an elaborate cash grab, like Danny Ocean and his friends looting the vaults of the Bellagio, the Mirage and the MGM Grand casinos. But that seems a little on the nose. It's still not clear why fans should be excited to watch the millionaire players on their favorite team get a chance to become even richer.
There's a few other issues with the commercial. Does the league really want to have everyone remember that Draymond Green will "get his hands dirty," like when he punched Jordan Poole? Anthony Davis throwing the three of clubs into a wall might evoke his uniform number, but it's an odd choice for a guy who's wildly inaccurate on his threes. And we're pretty sure that an accurate Kawhi Leonard commercial would be him calling in sick to work at his casino job.
It also feels like the NBA settled for Imperioli because it couldn't get anyone from the actual "Oceans" films. Perhaps Matt Damon is still stung by people mocking his cryptocurrency commercial. Perhaps Don Cheadle is still embarrassed by playing "Al-G Rhythm" in LeBron James' box-office flop "Space Jam: A New Legacy" to participate in another basketball project.
Maybe a slick ad will get fans pumped for the new tournament. More likely, this commercial will end up being more memorable than the event itself.
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