WATCH: Knicks' Jalen Brunson, Liberty's Sabrina Ionescu Star in AT&T March Madness Ad
AT&T is creating a bit of a group chat for New York Knicks and New York Liberty fans to celebrate March Madness.
Metropolitan worlds collide in the telecommunications company's latest advertisement, which stars Jalen Brunson and a cameo from Sabrina Ionescu, the respective backcourt faces of the Knicks and Liberty. Brunson's wife Ali Marks likewise appears.
The commercial, which is expected to run throughout the NCAA Tournaments that tip off this week, features Brunson donning a "Tournament Jacket," outerwear adorned in smartphones to showcase AT&T's abilities to stream the college basketball postseason both at home and on the go.
View the ad, entitled "Jalen's Jacket," below:
Ionescu shows up to admire the Villanova alum's fashion statement, though Marks is less than impressed, sarcastically claiming that the jacket is "a vibe," a compliment that the Knicks All-Star takes in earnest.
Brunson, of course, is well-versed in the art of winning in March, having partaken in Villanova's national championship runs in 2016 and 2018. Ionescu guided the University of Oregon's women's basketball program to unprecedented success: though her final run at a national title was wiped out by COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, Ionescu pushed the Ducks to their first three Elite Eight appearances as well as a Final Four bid in 2019.
Both Brunson and Ionescu, who have known each other since their pre-college days, have since become the faces of New York basketball and each praised the other's metropolitan impacts before they partook in separate three-point competitions during the NBA's All-Star festivities in Indianapolis last month.
"She's done such great things. I mean, she's been amazing. She has practically brought New York City basketball back on the map, that's what she's been able to do," Brunson told All Knicks. "Just to be able to share the limelight with her, it's an honor because what she's been able to do has been nothing short of spectacular."
"With him now in New York, just being able to watch his growth and development and rooting him on from this side, in Brooklyn, that's really exciting," Ionescu said. "To see what he's done this year, to see the buzz around the city with how he's been playing, how (the Knicks) have been playing the numbers he's been able to put up, it's exciting. At the end of the day, we are going out there and competing, but it's all for the same cause: just trying to be our best and represent what we represent."
Unfortunately for Brunson and Ionescu, their programs will have to take advantage of AT&T's streaming options this time around: without their services, Oregon struggled in an 11-win season while Brunson's Wildcats were banished to the consolation NIT competition for the second straight year.
