Connecting Community & Style with NBA Stars
2009 / Wieden + Kennedy
Back in the day the average kid’s connection to NBA stars was the sport itself, or TV. Most people weren’t aware that a lot of them still had deep roots in their communities—connections that meant that they didn’t just look like you, they were just like you when they were kids.
By dimensionalizing our athletes, telling their stories, and helping them bring attention to their communities, we were able to link create a full lifestyle story. To these guys, their zipcodes meant something. As much as it meant to the people who still lived there, and as much as it meant to kids growing up all over the country in places like Baltimore, the South Side, North Philly, or Salem NC.
I was handled concept and art direction on this project.
This work is a print campaign and is best viewed on desktop or horizontally on mobile.
For me this will always be one of my favorite campaigns because I got to meet NBA stars and see who them at total ease and acting naturally. These shoots were with their families, with their community, and in their hometowns.
I saw Melo telling a plucky kid from his neighborhood that he was in fact 'better than Kobe'. I watched DWade's mom feed him waffles. Rip Hamilton knew every kid in his neighborhood by name, putting his little nephew in front frame right next to him.
One of the few ad projects I’ve done where there what was happening in the camera was 100% real.
If you liked this work,
you might also like the people who worked on it.
Andy Ferguson, Copywriting
Ricardo Viramontes, Art Direction
Keith Cartwright, Creative Direction
Alex Lopez, Head of Advertising, Jordan Brand
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