December in Review: The Coolest things in NBA Basketball

Welcome back! Today I wanted to pull together a quick rundown of all things cool from the past month of NBA basketball marketing. This is where a lot of the inspiration for college basketball marketing comes from. I hope you enjoy it. (We'll follow up with a college hoops version tomorrow, of course.

The NBA Development League isn't known to be a huge draw in fan interest. But I have to say I loved seeing this one. They created a game, the NBA D-League Virtual Scout, that puts fans in the role of an NBA Scout. This is cool for many reasons, but specifically because it gets fans to pay attention to the D-League while also beginning to see the League as a pool of future NBA talent. Solid.

The game highlights the NBA D-League's unique Call-Up System, which allows NBA teams to sign top NBA D-League performers to contracts throughout the season. Fans get a chance to:

• Test their skills as an NBA Scout by selecting 5 current D-League players who they think have the best shot at being called up. (cool!)
• Evaluate players with up-to-date stats & video highlight packages posted at NBA.com/dleague to determine those that have the best shot at being the next NBA D-League call up.
  

I think this is just the start. Why not turn this into a chance for a fan to win a chance to be a scout? If you're that good at predicting call ups, why not? Read about it here.

The NBA released two new videos that are definitely worth clicking into.

First, Where Defense Happens.

And, next, Where Determination Happens.

How powerful are these?

The LA Lakers are the Most Valuable Franchise in the NBA, according to Forbes Magazine's rankings. Forbes values the Lakers at $607 million, up 4% from last year. Second ranked are the New York Knicks at $586 million (down 4%). The Knicks led the rankings for the four previous seasons. The Chicago Bulls ($511 million), Detroit Pistons ($479 million) and Cleveland Cavaliers ($476 million) round out the top five.

The least valuable? The Milwaukee Bucks at $254 million.

The biggest gain? The Portland Trail Blazers are up 10%.

Full read here.

As players get ready for this year’s All-Star Game, there are some fun campaigns out there to get fan votes. Amare Stoudemire introduced his All-Star campaign, leaning on David Spade for help.

Hilarious videos. First, getting into shape.

and then, adding the look to the role of a star.

Steve Nash introduced his own All-Star Game campaign, showing how he can make his lowlights reasons why you should vote for him.

Steve Nash talks about his film career aspirations. Nash and cousin Ezra Howard formed a production company called Meathawk (who produced that last video). They are working on a documentary titled, “Into the Wind,” which will be part of ESPN’s “30 for 30” series of documentaries. The subject is Terry Fox, the Canadian icon who lost a leg to cancer and attempted to run across Canada in 1980. Sounds pretty inspirational… Full read here.

Nash started blogging for Men’s Journal. He’s pretty personal and interesting, Here’s a sample of what you’ll get:

“When we started training camp in September, we were doing two-a-days — four or five hours on the court — and I never got sore. Even more telling is the fact that this summer I traveled all over the world for my foundation, bringing team sports to war-ravaged countries. I was missing out on sleep and still training the whole time, but I never got sick. I’ve got to think it’s because sugar wasn’t wearing me down.”

Here’s the full read.

And, finally, the Cleveland Cavaliers had some fun with two retro videos. First, this tribute to Michael Jackson, infomercial style.

And, then this, a new Cavs Game Intro Video. Hilarious.

That's it. Come back tomorrow and we'll role through the month that was in NCAA Hoops.

Andy