Pre-pared and deployed socially in real-time on the evening of 7 February as LeBorn James shot a nothing-but-net fadeaway jumper that saw him break the NBA’s all-time scoring record, Nike celebrated the most important athlete in its vast endorser stable with a spot titled ‘Witness Greatness’.
The moment James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s seemingly unbreakable 38,387 points tally, the sportswear behemoth deployed the black and white spot across its social channels. The dedicated online video showcases the brand’s ongoing endorser tie-up through the Lakers’ mega star’s 20-year professional hoops career and saluted his achievement at the moment a piece of sporting history was made.
The concept behind the commercial, created by long-time Nike agency Wieden + Kennedy (Portland), revolves around the unique experience of witnessing James’ career as he sits alone on the top of the NBA’s best scorers of all time and it ran across most Nike social platforms and on @KingJames’ personal platforms.
The 60-second spot tracked the small/power forward’s career from moving straight from high school to the NBA as the first pick in the first round of the league’s 2003 draft, through to his wins with the Miami Heath, his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers and the glitzy LA Lakers. The video is narrated by the words of a preacher, voiced by professional vocalist Alaonz Chadwick, celebrating his greatness and asking everybody “Can I get a witness?”
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Those who love sport have all witnessed two illustrations of genuine greatness in 2023: first there was Lionel Messi (and Adidas) and now LeBron James (and Nike) – so that’s 1:1 in the battle of the sportswear behemoths.
This new work actually harks back to a previous 2005 Nike campaign championing James called ‘Witness’: also shot in black-and-white, it was launched with a 110-foot high and 212-foot wide ‘Witness’ billboard adjacent to Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland which was supported by video, print, t-shirts and placards.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbpAIAew2DY
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