Hasta La Creative!

"He can't ball, he just tall." With smack talk on his sneering lips, 5-foot-9 forward Anton Barrels makes his commercial debut in this Nike Basketball spot from Wieden + Kennedy, set during a shirt vs. skins draft in the Maryland hometown of real-life 6-foot-9 superstar Kevin Durant. The ad, directed by David Gordon Green of Chelsea Pictures and edited by Geoff Hounsell of Arcade Edit, introduces Durant's KD VI Nike shoe, and he gets chosen first for the local game. It's all a big in-joke, because Durant was famously taken second in the 2007 NBA Draft, trailing Greg Oden, who's probably worn casts more often than sneakers during his injury-riddled pro career. (Where's Greg's new footwear line, you heartless bastards!? Dude's got doctor bills to pay!) The commercial is amusing even if you don't know the backstory, though it helps. Frankly, I was rooting for Barrels, a sweat-soaked, tie-and-tank-top-wearin' everyman, to be the top pick, because his misplaced moxie steals the show. Sorry, Kevin, but in my book, you're still No. 2. Credits below.

CREDITS
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Global Creative Directors: Alberto Ponte, Ryan O’Rourke
Art Director: Jason Campbell
Copywriter: Nathaniel Friedman
Account Supervisor: Jordan Muse
Account Executive: Jessica Shaw
Executive Producer: Matt Hunicutt
Producer: Chris Capretto

Production Company: Chelsea Pictures
Director: David Gordon Green
Director of Photography: Eric Treml
Executive Producers: Allison Amon, Lisa Mehling, Pat McGoldrick
Head of Production: Adam Guliner

Editorial: Arcade Edit
Editor: Geoff Hounsell
Assistant Editor: Sean LeGrange
Managing Director: Damian Stevens
Executive Producer: Nicole Visram
Visual Effects: Airship Post
Visual Effects Producer: Greg Heffron
Color: Sean Coleman at Company 3
Sound: Jeff Payne at Eleven Sound
Color Company: MPC
Colorist: Mark Gethin