Michael Jordan, Karl-Anthony Towns star in new Gatorade ad
Michael Jordan and Karl-Anthony Towns share something in common. They know how to use defeat as fuel to accomplish their goals.
Gatorade enlisted Michael Jordan and Minnesota Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns among other athletes in their latest ad, “Make Defeat Your Fuel.”
The commercial demonstrates that even the world’s most accomplished athletes experience the feeling of failure. Along with other sports superstars such as J.J. Watt, Peyton Manning, Serena Williams and Matt Ryan, they share the roadblocks they’ve encountered, and how they used defeat as a motivator.
The spot begins inside the gym of Laney High School, where Jordan failed to make the varsity team as a sophomore. I think we all know how this story ends.
He went on to dominate at the junior varsity level and played for the varsity team during his junior and senior years. In 1981, Jordan accepted an athletic scholarship to play for the North Carolina Tarheels. He became a household name by sinking the game-winning jumper in the 1982 NCAA Championship game against the Georgetown Hoyas.
If you aren’t familiar with his NBA resume, I’ll give you a brief rundown. Jordan won six titles as well as six Finals MVPs. His unblemished Finals record of 6-0 is often the deciding factor in today’s greatest of all time debates. He was apart of two “three-peats,” from 1991-93 and 1996-98.
Jordan was the recipient of five regular season MVP awards, a 14-time All-Star, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and a two-time Olympic Gold medalist.
His initial failures in the NBA pushed him to his limits, and in doing so he became the greatest to ever pick up a basketball.
Towns’ story takes place in a locker room as he describes the moment when he lead his Kentucky Wildcats to a 38-0 record, before losing to the Wisconsin Badgers in the Final Four. The Timberwolves selected Towns with the number one overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. He was unanimously named the 2015-16 Rookie of the Year after averaging 18.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.
In 2016-17, he cemented himself in the NBA history books. Towns became the first player to have at least 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 100 3-pointers in a single season. He averaged 25.1 points and 12.3 rebounds per game last season. Despite those terrific numbers as a sophomore, he was not selected for an All-NBA team.
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Towns aims to lead his team to the playoffs next season, and he has a good chance with the Timberwolves’ acquisition of Jimmy Butler during last week’s NBA Draft. Sometimes our highest moments are directly connected to our saddest stories. Jordan and Towns are clear reflections of this concept.
Gatorade’s message is simple. Failure is the secret to victory.