Nike’s sponsorship of the NBA playoffs feature most valued players Kobe Bryant and LeBron James as puppets goofing around behind the scenes. All the ingredients are there. Television, popcorn, chalk, talk, walk, basketball, Nike shoes and a link to www.nikebasketball.com. (Check out the more recent Santa, Blitzen and Reindeer clips).
Chalk
MVPs Kobe and LeBron get ready for the 2009 NBA Playoffs by walking the chalk.
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Three Rings
Kobe searches for his misplaced championship rings while LeBron plays some video games.
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Unstoppable Game Tape
LeBron’s highlight footage gets interrupted by a special message from Kobe.
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Mrs Lewis
Mrs Lewis has to put up with two TV-watching basketballers upstairs.
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Lil Dez
LeBron and Kobe babysit Mrs. Lewis’ son, Lil Dez.
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Car Jump
Kobe re-enacts his famous car jump to show LeBron how it’s done.
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Lil Dez Final
Mrs. Lewis’ son, Lil Dez, pesters LeBron to watch the final.
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Celebration
LeBron coolly eats his Fruity Pebbles as Kobe the Champ saunters through the house in celebration.
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Credits
The Puppets campaign was developed at Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, by creative directors Jeff Williams, Alberto Ponte, copywriter Edward Harrison, art directors Sasha Swetschinski, Matt Murphy, head of production Ben Grylewicz, senior agency producer Matt Hunnicutt, agency producer Jessica Staples.
Filming was shot by director Stacy Wall via Imperial Woodpecker, New York, with executive producer Doug Halbert, producer Jeff McDougall and director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki.
The Kobe and LeBron puppets in the ad were created at Legacy Effects (the newly named Stan Winston Studios). The team of puppeteers who worked on this included Greg Ballora and Greg Manion (Lebron), Rob Saunders and Dave Barclay (Kobe) with Christine Papalexis, Alison Mork, Blake Bolger, and Patrick Gerrity assisting. The Kobe puppet’s voice was supplied by David Allen Grier; Lebron’s was done by SNL’s Kenan Thompson.
via Puppet Vision
See the Christmas MVPuppets campaign here.
i find the kobe and lebron commercial very funny. it cracks me up everytime i watch it
I’ll give it up to these dudes: they look good in felt, but if y’all looking for some real hardcore puppets, come on over to Apollo’s Pad. Ya heard!
hilarious!!! who’s the voice of Lil Dez?
I love the Kobe and lebron commercials esspesially that little boy
I LOVE KOBE AND LEBRON THEY ARE THE GREATEST,,,GOOOOOOOOOOO LAKERS…..
Who’s behind the voice of Lil Dez?
The puppet commercials are hilarious! You guys should introduce the real Kobe and Lebron for one commercial and have them face off against each other.
The commericals are great,can the puppets be bought and where?
I think the remix of the on with the kid was funny ass hell
i like kobe