Fansided

The (almost) definitive ranking of NBA team intro videos

By David Vertsberger

Nov 15, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; A scoreboard view of the court lit with the flag of France before the game between the Atlanta Hawks and the Utah Jazz at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 15, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; A scoreboard view of the court lit with the flag of France before the game between the Atlanta Hawks and the Utah Jazz at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /
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20. Phoenix Suns

It’s a little hard to watch, I know, but easy to tell that there isn’t nearly enough in-game action. It almost feels Miami Heat-ish in its approach. When it does cut to game footage, there’s no announcer audio. Bledsoe hitting a three with music in the background isn’t as exciting as Bledsoe hitting a three with epic music in the background while a broadcaster bellows, “Bledsoe for three… GOT IT!” It’s both a simple and huge addition, and lets fans hear a familiar voice in their home broadcaster.

19. Dallas Mavericks

There’s nothing wrong with this outside of the song choice. I feel like if I dubbed this video over with a song that’s exciting it would fall in the “pretty good” category, but right now it’s sleep-inducing.

18. Charlotte Hornets

This is in the middle of the pack simply because I don’t know how to feel about all the animated hornets. The in-game stuff is cool, especially since it’s shown in the hornet’s eye, a creative move. But all the buzzing at the end, and taking up all that time showing the digital hornet flying around randomly? I really don’t know.

17. Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunder went with some subtle but nice visual effects atop a bunch of in-game highlights and a generic track. There’s certainly more “fine” with this than “wrong” but let’s address a couple of things. One, there’s no announcer audio over the game footage. There’s also nothing separating the in-game clips. It’s all 100 percent in-game stuff, which is better than the opposite, but still too much of one thing. A few shots of Westbrook death-staring the camera would have been cool.

16. Atlanta Hawks

We get it. You can do fancy stuff with on-court projections. Oh look, another six fancy things on the court that don’t have to do with basketball. Neat. This is so exciting. That’s the problem with the first part of Atlanta’s intro. Once we get to the players it gets solid. Although it’s all basketball poses in front of a green screen, the cinematography is really cool in spots and the players don’t look like they hate being there. Not bad, not great.

Next: Nos. 15-11

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