The biggest storyline in the NBA this season will be the Battle for L.A., as the Lakers and Clippers enter the season as the favorites to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy in June.
Each team is hopeful that its newly minted superstar tandem will be the difference in the title chase — which, it should be noted, extends far beyond Los Angeles. It’s fitting that the two teams will meet on opening night at Staples Center, but before the games even begin, the posturing has begun via The Brands as to who will reign supreme over the City of Angels.
LeBron James whole thing is being the King, and as such he took on the title of King of L.A. last year, even as the Lakers stumbled. With Anthony Davis in town, he and the Lakers plan on reclaiming the top spot in the city, but Kawhi Leonard (and eventually Paul George) figure to put up plenty of fight to hold down the Clippers spot as the best team in the city. On Tuesday, New Balance dropped a new ad campaign that takes a not so subtle jab at the King, saying L.A. is Kawhi’s city and it’s time for him to “reign over L.A.”
It’s a cool spot and continues what has been a pretty great roll out from New Balance of making Kawhi the face of their return to basketball. From the “Fun Guy” stuff to this, they’ve managed to make Kawhi seem more approachable while also capturing his essence, which is that he’s a fairly normal guy with an unbelievable talent for basketball.
This campaign drops a day before the public release of the OMN1s in the “Reign Gold” colorway on Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 10 a.m. on New Balance’s website as well as at Foot Locker and Shoe Palace. Leonard debuted the OMN1s a year ago, but they’re finally coming to the public market and it’ll be interesting to see if Kawhi can make them a hot commodity.
