• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, October 24, 2023

Google Pixel entered its third season of the NBA Tip-Off as the official fan phone of the Woman National Basketball Association, and National Basketball Association.

This season’s campaign theme, Built Different, supports the only phone engineered by Google, Pixel. It follows comedian and content creator Druski’s efforts to make it to the League by any means necessary, whether as a player, photographer, stylist, commentator, or agent.

“I’m thrilled to continue working with Team Pixel this year to help bring NBA fans closer to the game they love with the help of Google,” stated Giannis Antetokounmpo, Team Pixel Athlete and NBA Player. “In partnering with Google Pixel for three years, I’m proud of the community we’ve established, creating never-before-seen ways for fans to express their fandom, while having a lot of fun along the way.”

This year, Google features an entire season’s worth of content across television, digital and social that shows fans different things they can do with Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro via Druski’s attempts to make the League.

The Pixel features highlighted throughout the season include Call Screen, Audio Magic Eraser, Lens in the Google app, and Live Translate.

The brand consultancy Robot is credited for creating the campaign for Google Pixel.

The campaign teaser kicked off on Druski’s social posts this past weekend with two pieces of content completely created on Pixel -- the first on Instagram in which Druski declared for next season’s NBA Draft, and the second, also on Instagram, a montage of Druski training with Team Pixel athletes.

Aside from Druski, other athletes return including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jalen Green, and Kelsey Plum. New to the team this season is Jimmy Butler, who in one clip sees himself make a basket and says, “Oh daddy, that is poetry in motion.”

Other returning talent featured in the campaign includes Lethal Shooter, Jamad Finn, Chris Brickley, Cameron Look, Taylor Rooks, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Chiney, Flau’jae, Richard Jefferson and Crissa Jackson.

In addition to new spots during NBA Tip-Off, Google will have custom integrations in TNT’s Inside the NBA program running today.

Viewers will see Druski pitching himself to Ernie Johnson, determined to join the Inside the NBA crew. Previous Google Pixel NBA campaigns include Okay, I See You, and its sequel Greatest Watch Party.