(Basketball news) The newly debuted 2024 NBA Finals campaign, “The Toast,” is now streaming across all @NBA social platforms and the NBA App. NBA Legend and three-time NBA Champion Dwyane Wade gathers a cast of former champions and famous NBA fans – Ray Allen, Mike Breen, Ken Jeong, Magic Johnson, Jimmy Kimmel, Isiah Thomas, Queen Latifah and the newest members of the Chicago Sky Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese – to celebrate the pinnacle of the NBA season with a toast “to the Finals.”
The road to the NBA Finals presented by YouTube TV continues tomorrow, May 21 when the Boston Celtics face the Indiana Pacers at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN in the Easter Conference Finals and Wednesday, May 22 when the Dallas Mavericks face the Minnesota Timberwolves at 8:30 p.m. ET on TNT in the Western Conference Finals.
“The Toast” opens with Wade hyping himself up as he prepares to deliver a tribute to the “the season that was and the champion to be” to an audience of former NBA champions, fans and celebrities at a glamorous affair. Creatively bottling the emotion that the road to the Championship evokes for all, Wade’s “Toast” honors the best of the game with references to iconic NBA moments, from Johnson’s signature no-look pass and Breen’s famous “bang!”, to Allen’s corner three and the Championship hardware itself, the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
“As the Playoffs near a close, we are arriving at the pinnacle of the NBA season: the NBA Finals,” said NBA Chief Marketing Officer Tammy Henault. “We wanted to ensure our creative captured the gravity of that, so the idea of bringing together the NBA community at a glamourous party to share in a celebration of the season behind us and in anticipation of what’s to come felt like the perfect way to tip off the Finals.”
For behind-the-scenes footage of the cast on set discussing the filming of “The Toast” click here.
The spot was directed by Hungry Man’s Dave Laden and created in collaboration with creative solutions company Translation. “The Toast” will run in broadcast and will live across all NBA social and digital platforms. The campaign will also be extended through complementary creative in out-of-home, digital, audio and print assets including a pop-up activation at the Governors Ball Music Festival in New York on June 7-9. Beyond the creative, the Finals campaign will also be supported by the second Larry O’Brien Trophy Tour as Larry visits famous places and faces on the road to crowning the next NBA Champion.
The 2024 NBA Finals presented by YouTube TV tips off on June 6 on ABC.
Also read: CHRIS ROCK NARRATES NBA’S NEW CAMPAIGN: “PLAYOFF MODE. IT’S A THING”
