Submission   2,086

Part of a series on Basketball. [View Related Entries]


Related Explainer: The Ads And Commercials Torturing Viewers Of The NBA Playoffs, Ranked From Bad To Worst


ADVERTISEMENT

About

"What A Pro Wants" NBA Playoffs Commercial refers to an AT&T advertisement airing during the 2024 NBA Playoffs featuring Oklahoma City Thunder players Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (commonly referred to as "SGA") and Chet Holmgren singing the pop song "What a Girl Wants" by Christina Aguilera. The commercial was widely loathed on social media, leading to hyperbolic responses and jokes about the ad.

Origin

On March 18th, 2024, AT&T[1] released a commercial starring the Oklahoma City Thunder's SGA and Chet Holmgren. The pair begin discussing AT&T, with Holmgren saying AT&T knows "what a pro wants." The pair begin reciting the lyrics of Christina Aguilera's "What a Girl Wants" ("What a girl wants, what a girl needs / Whatever makes me happy sets you free / And I'm thanking you for knowing exactly,") with "Girl" replaced with "Pro," then begin singing the song.


Spread

The commercial began airing in March 2024 during the NCAA championship tournaments, when it began seeing some backlash. On March 20th, 2024, Twitter / X user @thesarahkelly[2] wrote, "I don’t think I can survive another week of that 'what a pro wants' ad a dozen times a day," gaining 10 likes in one month (shown below, left). On April 6th, Twitter user @jaycaspianking[3] wrote the commercial was "baffling," gaining over 100 likes in three weeks (shown below, right).


The backlash to the commercial ramped up in the middle of April 2024 after the start of the NBA Playoffs, when many fans commented that the perceived poor quality of the commercial and the frequency with which it aired was irritating them.

For example, on April 28th, 2024, Twitter user @jshyb_[4] posted the Michael Jackson Lowering a Gun GIF in reverse to joke about the commercial, gaining over 600 retweets and 7,200 likes in one day (shown below, top). The same day, Redditor dbezzy1010 posted a still image from Manchester by the Sea to signify their reaction to the commercial, gaining over 20 points in /r/nbacirclejerk[5] in one day (shown below, bottom). On April 29th, Awful Announcing[6] covered the backlash to the commercial.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References



Share Pin

Related Entries 91 total

Confused Nick Young / Swaggy P
The Warriors Blew a 3-1 Lead
Ice In My Veins Pose
Jack Blankenship's Face


Recent Images 12 total


Recent Videos 0 total

There are no recent videos.




Load 1 Comment
See more