NBA Ushers in a New Era of New Talent in ESPN Spot

After the 2023-24 NBA postseason where the league’s biggest stars like LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo were eliminated after the first round of playoffs, it’s become increasingly clear that there is a generational shift happening with a new set of superstar players making a name for themselves, creating more parity across the league than ever before.

Introducing, 'This Time Is Different', a new campaign in the fifth instalment of 'It’s NBA on ESPN Time' platform. The platform launched during the 2020-21 season and has taken new shape for the past three seasons with an evolving tagline around the notion of time with 'It’s Anyone’s Time' in 2021, 'It’s A Beautiful Time for Basketball' in 2022, and 'The Time Is Now' in 2023. ESPN, in collaboration with Arts & Letters, continues to tell the story of the burgeoning young stars in the league who have arrived and are ready to take the throne from the stars of the past.

“The disruption from the player talent and team competition in the NBA right now really is different from any season we’ve seen before and we wanted to emphasize that in this creative campaign.“ said Curtis Friends, vice president of sports marketing at ESPN. “The bold visuals, the unique sound design and the addition of Killer Mike's voice were all choices we made to amplify the energy, personality and attitude of today’s NBA.”

Following six years of six different NBA Champions, we are fully into the new era of the NBA. 'This Time Is Different' is rooted in the fact that this season will look different in many ways: there are new team-ups with star players joining forces with other star players, there is a new in-season tournament with the Emirates NBA Cup in November, and ultimately the throne of the NBA Finals Champion is there for any team to claim.

The spot debuted on ESPN on October 7th during Monday Night Football, and will continue to run across digital, social and ESPN broadcasts.

The spot features the song, 'Oh My Darling Don’t Cry' by Grammy Award winning rap group, Run The Jewels, and also features the voice of rapper Killer Mike who is one half of Run The Jewels. The attitude, swagger and confidence of both Killer Mike’s voice and the music were the perfect accompaniment to the bold and vibrant visuals throughout the spot.

“The NBA has always felt like a reflection of the wildly varied styles and personalities of its players. This year’s NBA On ESPN campaign is 100% a nod to that. An ode, really,” said Mike Behrends, creative director at Arts & Letters. “This on-court melting pot served as our collective guide to create a campaign that’s as alive, dynamic and, most importantly, different, as the pivotal moment the league is in this year.”

For this season’s visual direction, Arts & Letters partnered with UK animation design company, ILOVEDUST, to produce a dazzling array of art forms from pop culture as we melted together styles and genres to usher in this different era of the NBA.