The NBA playoffs this year are expected to be the most intriguing in recent history, especially after the close seeding between teams in the regular season. To welcome the postseason games, ESPN released a banger of a promo recently, which now has the Internet buzzing with excitement. The promo edit is so good that even Shaquille O’Neal, a member of ESPN’s rival network TNT, couldn’t help himself from appreciating it.
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According to Forbes, ESPN’s estimated worth is around a staggering $24 billion. The promo that they’ve edited for the playoffs is a testament to their dedication to their work. The clip titled, “The NBA playoffs: Where superstars become legends” shows players from different generations uniting to play for the same franchise in the postseason.
For example, LeBron James and the late, great Kobe Bryant can be seen uniting for the Lakers, Nikola Jokic and Carmelo Anthony for the Nuggets, Kevin Durant and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for OKC, Kevin Garnett and Anthony Edwards for the Timberwolves, and Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar uniting for the Milwaukee Bucks, among other sensational duos. The visuals of the eras clashing seemed truly surreal. Even though the promo is not the first of its kind, because TNT had made something similar about a decade ago, this was surely refreshing because of superior editing and stunning combinations.
The ESPN clip was re-shared by Steve Paul on Instagram, and it eventually made its way to Shaq’s timeline. The big fella put it up on his IG story without caring about the fact that ESPN is a rival network of TNT.
To be fair, Shaq’s excitement to share the clip can be well understood, when you consider his footage with the Orlando Magic was also included. In the video, the big man was paired with the 21-year-old Magic star Paolo Banchero. Also, Shaq is evidently not the only one who was impressed by the edit.
Hoop fans were left awestruck by ESPN’s playoffs promo
The promo really left an impression on the fans, who flocked the comments with their reviews. They were so impressed by it that one fan even demanded a raise for the editor.
The thrill of the video can’t really be put into words, but one fan tried.
The footage of Kobe and LeBron high fiving each other in Lakers uniform was an emotional sight for the fans. It’s a dream of LA fans that will never be fulfilled, but thankfully, ESPN could visualize those dreams.
It seems like the minute long clip isn’t enough because one fan demanded ESPN to post an extended version of the same.
Another thing that the fans noticed in the promo is that some of the clips, including the one with Luka Doncic and Dirk Nowitzki, was just an actual footage and not an edit because the two played together for the Mavs. However, a large majority of them were digitally altered.
