https://www.instagram.com/p/BJkz3KIAPwK/?hl=en
Russell Westbrook should be in for a big season. With Kevin Durant now with the Golden State Warriors, the Oklahoma City Thunder are definitively his team. Gearing up for this big season, Westbrook is in a new ad for new Jordan Brand. The ad focuses on Westbrook, and selling the Jordan XXXIs, of course, but it also seems like it might be taking a shot at his former teammate.
The ad transposes a basketball court with an airplane runway, with Westbrook, the ostensible airplane, “taking off” from the free-throw line. This is of course a reference to Jordan’s iconic free-throw line dunk. However, it’s the tagline for the spot that garners intrigue. “Some run, some make runways,” a voice intones. It’s also the caption on the Instagram posting of the ad.
Is Durant the one doing the “running”? That is to say, is this ad presupposing that Durant ran from the Thunder to join up with Steph Curry and company in the Bay Area? Are they putting Durant down in order to boost Westbrook’s image, positioning him as the guy who stuck around to make it work?
There had been some talk of bad blood between Durant and Westbrook after Durant split from the Thunder, but they both also tried to play that down after the fact. Is this ad the latest shot in a burgeoning Westbrook-Durant rivalry? Or are we all reading too much into this because we’re really itching for the NBA to return?
