Tonight TNT tips off their coverage of NBA basketball with a double-header starting at 8 p.m. ET. That’s when we’ll get to see a rematch of the Eastern Conference finals between the Raptors and Cavs. Coincidentally, the NBA will also trot out a new ad on it’s social and digital platforms and another one to air during tonight’s games.
The first, which will only be available on social and digital, is narrated by Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving. It’s called “29,” as in the number of teams the Cavs will have to defeat on their way to repeating as champions. Here’s how ‘Rie explains why they — as in the Cavs — play this year:
“Winning was a challenge, but repeating will be, too. Because there are 29 teams in our way again. And they’ve all come back stronger, more determined, and ready. They won’t back down, and neither will we. This is why we play.”
Next up is Russell Westbrook’s spot which will air on TNT; although, he’s playing at 8 p.m. as well, but the game’s not on TNT. It doesn’t matter, though. The Thunder superstar has a unique vantage on the upcoming season. Perhaps no player — save his former teammate — has been more of an enigma heading into the 2016-17 season, and Russell’s opening sentence in his own video is a testament to that.
“You can’t live in the past,” he says and you believe him. We should all believe him.
“The wins, and the losses. The joy, the drama, the what-if’s and should have’s. All that means zero now. We all start from zero. This is why we play.”
Here’s Russell Westbrook’s new NBA spot: “Zeroes.”