Santa Claus is the NBA's hottest free agent in funny new ESPN spot

 By 
Sam Laird
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

If anyone knows how to deliver, it's Santa Claus.

Now ol' Santa is the NBA's hottest free agent -- at least, that's the comedic premise of a new ESPN spot promoting the network's heavy lineup of Christmas Day games.

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In the ad embedded below, which you'll start seeing in heavy rotation this week, Santa holds a news conference to announce that he plans to bring his talents to the NBA. The real gold, however, comes in deadpan cameos from actual NBA players including James Harden, Anthony Davis, DeAndre Jordan and LaMarcus Aldridge.

The free-agency spot is the latest twist in the NBA's Santa-centric Christmas campaign, which is now in its second year. The campaign was created in collaboration with Wieden + Kennedy, a longtime heavyweight in the sports advertising space.

Finally, the NBA's Christmas Day TV schedule is as follows:

New Orleans Pelicans at Miami Heat, ESPN, noon EST

Chicago Bulls at Oklahoma City Thunder, ABC, 2:30 p.m. EST

Cleveland Cavaliers at Golden State Warriors, ABC, 5 p.m. EST

San Antonio Spurs at Houston Rockets, ESPN, 8 p.m. EST

LA Clippers at LA Lakers, ESPN, 10:30 p.m. EST

BONUS: 25 of YouTube's Funniest Sports Fails

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