In October, Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade shocked the world (aka people who care about NBA apparel endorsements) by leaving Jordan Brand and joining forces with Li-Ning, one of China’s most-prominent sports brands (that’s been slowly making inroads here in the States over the years).
The move was shocking for a couple of reasons. First, it put Dwyane Wade in Michael Jordan’s crosshairs which, if you’ve read Wright Thompson’s incredible piece on Jordan for ESPN, you know it’s a terrible idea because MJ is totally fucking crazy. Second, it revealed that China’s plan for worldwide dominance begins with taking our beloved professional athletes away from us. Third, it revealed Wade to be Chinese and most likely communist sympathizer—someone who would turn his back on his home country for the wealth and oppression that China’s booming (though unstable) economy offers to those willing to denounce the USA (Ed: As far as we know, Dwyane Wade is not actually a ‘communist sympathizer’ nor is he the catalyst for China’s global takeover. We hope you’re no longer in the fetal position at this moment).
Li-Ning apparently offered Wade his own brand within theirs, including a lot of creative control over his projects. Jordan brand, being run by a psychotic control-freak, obviously would never let this happen. So, we have the above spot from agency Zambezi depicting Dwyane Wade running the show like a badass. Smile now, D-Wade, but is your pile of Yuan keeping you warm tonight? Actually, yeah, it probably is. Credits after the jump.
Agency Credits:
Brian Ford – Founder, Executive Creative Director
Chris Raih – Founder, Managing Director
Kevin Buth – Creative Director
Desmond Marzette – Creative Strategist
Alex Cohn – Executive Producer
Andrew Gage – Producer
Jared Jue – Account Supervisor
Production Credits:
Production Company – Caviar
Director – Jonathan Levine
Director of Photography – Petra Korner
Executive Producer – Michael Sagol
Head of Production – Leigh Miller
Producer – Andrew Struble