The banking platform Chime has launched a new advertising campaign that brings together two distinct eras of basketball greatness, pairing Dallas Mavericks standout rookie Cooper Flagg with Boston Celtics icon and Hall of Famer Larry Bird. The commercial, which debuted recently across digital and broadcast platforms, leans heavily into the competitive nature of both athletes. It highlights the legendary trash talk that defined Bird’s storied career while showcasing the rising off-court profile of the 2025 first-overall draft pick.
The core premise of the comedic advertisement revolves around the financial benefits of the Chime banking app, specifically its credit-building features. During the spot, an actor portraying a Chime customer excitedly announces that their credit score has increased by 70 points after using the platform. This impressive number prompts Flagg to turn to the 12-time NBA All-Star and ask if the three-time champion could ever score 70 points in a single professional game. True to his historically confident and unyielding persona, Bird immediately delivers a deadpan response, stating, “Not if I’m guarding you.” The generational banter continues throughout the spot, with Flagg taking a playful jab at the aesthetic choices of the 1980s, specifically poking fun at Bird’s trademark 1986 mullet hairstyle.
While the pairing of a 19-year-old rookie and a 69-year-old retired legend might seem highly unusual to casual observers, the connection between Flagg and Bird runs deep. Despite the fact that Bird retired from the NBA in 1992—a full fourteen years before Flagg was even born—the rookie has long cited the Celtics great as his favorite basketball player of all time.
Growing up in Newport, Maine, Flagg was raised in a household of passionate Boston Celtics supporters. According to past interviews with his family, his mother purchased a DVD box set chronicling the dominant 1985-1986 Boston Celtics championship season as a Christmas gift when Flagg was just eight years old. The young prodigy reportedly studied the tapes extensively, modeling his competitive approach and all-around game after Bird’s versatile skill set. Prior to being drafted by the Mavericks, Flagg publicly named Bird as his ultimate “dream one-on-one matchup,” making this commercial collaboration a full-circle moment for the young star.
The advertisement also serves as a strategic synergistic marketing maneuver for all parties involved. Chime currently holds a prominent sponsorship agreement with the Dallas Mavericks, acting as the official jersey patch sponsor for the franchise. By utilizing the team’s most highly touted young asset in a national campaign alongside a universally recognized basketball icon, the financial technology company successfully bridges the gap between regional team loyalty and broader national NBA fandom.
The statistical parallels between the two players add an additional layer of intrigue to their on-screen partnership. During his ongoing rookie campaign, Flagg has posted averages exceeding 20 points, six rebounds, and four assists per game. Since the ABA-NBA merger, the list of rookies to achieve that specific statistical baseline over a season is remarkably short. It includes a select group of historical elites such as Michael Jordan, Flagg’s current teammate Luka Doncic, and coincidentally, Larry Bird himself. This shared elite production level underscores exactly why Flagg is viewed as a generational prospect capable of sharing the spotlight with an all-time great.
