The ad world just received a huge bonus last night.
Kevin Garnett has been as reliable a performer in commercials as any athlete. By turns his stunning physique, comedic talent, and sheer charisma vibrate from the screen; no athlete has starred in as diverse a reel of spots. In fact, Garnett’s participation in high-profile campaigns has been, I dare say, Jordanesque. All with the niggling caveat that he had yet to become a champion.
The thread running through all sports commercials, of course, is the attraction to that most addictive of binaries: winning. And while it is probably the dream of every commercial director to work with a singular kind of screen talent such as Garnett (and certainly the budgets that advertisers are willing to attach to his likeness), all are ultimately inconsequential with respect to his own dreams. Dreams we do not live, but experience as if they were our own through Gatorade, Adidas, and nba.com. In winning a championship last night Garnett has been able to pay back the promise of all of those ad dollars spent. And, uniquely to his profession, we were able to witness that great screen talent unleash his perspective on winning in as compelling and dramatic a fashion as the camera allows.
Here follows a brief recap in spots and ESPN’s authoritative document of The Moment:
“You have no idea,” Garnett mumbles midway through the above interview. Congratulations to you, Kevin. We don’t.
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Here’s Garnett splitting time with the other athlete-king of commercials, Peyton Manning.