https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdCbjY3MQz0
Damian Lillard is slowly but surely becoming one of the most marketable stars in the NBA. Portland’s star guard is consistently teaming up with adidas to produce some of the most fire kicks in the game, and now, he is teaming up with Spalding for a new ad titled “The Beat of True Believers.”
This features Lillard walking into an empty gym and working on his ball handling. It’s such a simple concept but there’s something haunting about it – just a dude in black and white in a gym trying to get better with his handles. It also features Lillard going on a short monologue, talking about what it means to be a True Believer.
“True Believers don’t wish, they work,” Lillard says. “We take all the doubt we can get – that’s just fuel for the fire. We don’t believe the hype, just the grind. Because if you’re not working on your game, you’re working on retiring.”
The coolest part of this ad is the sound of Lillard dribbling. If it sounds a bit different, that’s because it is – instead of the sound of balls bouncing on the hardwood, each dribble synched up perfectly to his heartbeat, and the sound of his heart was recorded and used in the ad.
