El Clasico being the fierce rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid is on its way to the American basketball culture. In a bid to bring a portion of the rivalry heat into the US, Bucket and the NBA will premiere a new television show named Switch the Play hosted by Larry Nance Jr.
Pick a side, Barcelona or Real Madrid?
The first game will be this Thursday between forward Anfernee Simons of the Portland Trail Blazers and Spanish center Willy Hernangomez, of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Alex Caruso, NBA champion with the Oklahoma City Thunder is his first guest. Subsequently, the show is ready to increase its heated style because further case studies will include NBA players who publicly declare their allegiance to Barcelona or Real Madrid.
Luka Doncic picks a side, Is it Barcelona?
Some of the higher profile NBA stars, namely Luka Doncic, have openly declared their supporting interests, Doncic is a vocal supporter of Real Madrid, bringing some additional real world rivalry in the process. It is a format where one can expect witty banters, heated arguments and maybe even some inter rivalry discussions of sporting sort as basketball and football fandom will meet. What makes Switch the Play special is its design, to bring equal measures of soccer with the attractiveness and cool of NBA figures.
Rivalry going places
This program is a part of wider trends It does not only attract millions of fans of El Clasico around the world but it also draws on burgeoning cross sport interest between basketball and soccer particularly in the US where the popularity of European football is increasingly on the rise. By bringing in high profiled players in their discussion, the NBA is accessing rich storytelling and interaction with fans, acquiring something new and old at the same time to both the sports communities. Switch the Play is in a nutshell an effort to present the most historic rivalry in soccer and rebrand it to a new and vibrant media.
