In Sports Entertainment it’s crucial to capture a breadth of fan eras and experiences. From the moment our NBA Lane narrator and guide walks into the scene, every step of the journey to the tunnel is steeped in both nostalgia and anticipatory hope for the Finals. With special appearances from Dirk Nowitzki, Red Panda, and James Worthy, the story is the culmination of all past NBA Lane films and a simple, yet powerful final moment on the Lane as the open ending leaves the championship team and trophy a mystery for fans to envision on their own.

The entire season led to two teams and one newly redesigned Larry O’Brien Trophy to cap off a legendary anniversary season. That’s why, for the Finals, we find ourselves back at the NBA Lane Arena in the moments before a champion is crowned.

Ensuring there was a nod to every decade of Finals History, the story took a holistic approach. Weaving together nods from the past films of the season, as well as the iconic history of the NBA, we created a full-circle moment to cap off the NBA Lane films that celebrated the 75th Anniversary Season. That informed the decision to bring back our original film hero, Michael B. Jordan, to be our lead narrator and trophy handler. We even gave audiences a glimpse into the exciting future ahead by including a virtual reality shot of Meta Horizon Worlds.

While nostalgia was a key piece of this full-circle film, we proved that the game keeps moving forward as our finale successfully passed the torch to a new generation of NBA lovers. The Final Delivery showcased what can come from season long integrated campaigns. One narrative wrapper (NBA Lane) allowed the league to expand upon its storytelling to jump from tentpole moment to tentpole moment throughout the season. The season-long approach helped naturally introduce flexed messaging and flexed media placements to create work that engaged wide ranging audiences at different moments in time while still distilling an overall brand message at every point. By not only integrating the campaign at the media level, but at a core strategic storytelling level, the work was able to generate cultural relevance and ubiquity among fans of the league.

The NBA Finals is where basketball history is written. Between Game 1 and Game 7, everyone from fans to players to legends have their eyes on the action to see who takes the title home and earns legendary status.

With narrator and driver Michael B Jordan, we’re taken on a trip through the arena tunnels as we hand deliver the trophy to the court. Along the way, we catch glimpses of legends, entertainers, and behind-the-scenes preparations and nods to 75 years of history.

From the moment our NBA Lane narrator and guide walks into the scene, every step of the journey to the tunnel is steeped in both nostalgia and anticipatory hope for the Finals. With special appearances from Dirk Nowitzki, Red Panda, and James Worthy, the story is the culmination of all past NBA Lane films and a simple, yet powerful final moment on the Lane.

The overall goal was to create a campaign that made every fan feel like their favorite Finals moment - player, team, or play - was represented, from the inclusion of Gary Payton’s defensive stance, dialogue referencing the “Big Game”, to a locker room full of Sixth Man jerseys.

Not knowing which teams would be in the 22-23 Finals, we created a film that had enough specificity to amplify fan excitement, but left much open to the imagination. Historical nods grounded the journey in nostalgia and more recent references like Giannis and the Splash Bros brought us towards the future.

This was the final moment in the season, and the final film of the NBA Lane series. By bringing back talent from the first films and carrying visual and tonal themes throughout, we created one eclectic tour of the NBA universe that ends with the one and only Larry O’Brien trophy.

The Final Delivery ended a season-long journey taking fans through an epic celebration for the NBA’s 75th anniversary. With all eyes geared towards the final two teams, our campaign needed to capture global interest and generate excitement from NBA fans and non-NBA fans alike. Leveraging a combination of talent, easter eggs, and strategic media placements, The Final Delivery was able to capture the interest of a diverse fan base in addition to non-fans - helping to exceed all campaign objectives for the entire NBA Playoffs across reach (96%+), affinity (+2.5ppt), and viewership (23MM+ incremental HHs on measured games) while also attracting new and casual fans (+16% Casual contribution vs last Postseason) through premium media placements (like other Linear Sports & broadcast premieres/finales) that were 20-30% more efficient at driving Tune-in.

Through easter eggs, scripted jokes, play on words, and set dressings The Final Delivery features countless cultural references that only a hardcore basketball fan would recognize. Here are a few to help contextualize the work:

We open in the tunnels of an NBA arena, this is typically where players arrive.

Michael B Jordan is driving a golf cart with the Larry O’Brien Trophy - completing his journey from being a bus driver to kick off the season on NBA Lane.

Giannis famously ordered 50 Chik-Fil-A nuggets after he won the Finals in 2021.

We showcase the trophy room in the metaverse - built in Meta’s Horizon Worlds.

Dirk Nowitizki shows up with a plate of to-go food, something he famously did when arriving to games.

This was the reveal of the officially redesigned Larry O’Brien trophy.