The Jordan Brand has become a trendsetter of sorts in the basketball world, with a range of the best WNBA and NBA athletes becoming signature athletes over time. The brand has a plethora of superstars, and quite a few of them find themselves cast in a brand musical, of all initiatives.
Released just a week after the highly anticipated release of the Air Jordan 40’s ‘The Classic’ colorway, the brand premiered a basketball-themed musical earlier on July 19. Titled “Too Easy,” the 2-minute, 23-second clip has been created by the Wieden+Kennedy creative agency and pays tribute to “It’s the Hard-Knock Life” from Annie.
What’s more, the clip also proves to be a who’s who of the Jordan brand, featuring a range of signature NBA and WNBA athletes. This includes the likes of Bam Adebayo, Chris Paul, Trae Young, Paolo Banchero, Jayson Tatum, Luka Doncic, Napheesa Collier, Gabby Williams, Dominique Malonga, Jared McCain, and Kiki Rice.
The video features an intense pickup game during which Adebayo initially finds himself on the concrete. However, he eventually wakes up to sing, joined by a range of other WNBA and NBA stars.
The musical has been released as part of the Jordan brand’s “40 Years of Greatness” event, commemorating four decades of the brand’s inception back in 1985.
“Instead of shootin’. We got benched. Empty stats we won’t—Play again! It’s the hard-knock life!” the lyrics are a direct play on the “It’s the Hard-Knock Life” song from the classic musical Annie.
While released as an advertisement, the clip proves to be much more and gives a glimpse into the kind of physical struggles professional basketball players have to undergo. The video opens with Adebayo’s vision being blurred after a knock, something which is effectively a daily occurrence for players in the NBA and the WNBA.
