With the 2026 NBA Championship Finals freshly wrapped in a thrilling finish and the NBA Draft now underway, the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) — the union arm of the league representing its more than 500 active players — is striking while the iron is hot.The organization is moving to ensure each player collectively benefits from the league’s buzz and, for the first time since its founding, is involving the public and a Grammy-winning artist to build momentum of its own.To announce the launch of Plyrs Untd (pronounced “players united”), a new commercial brand that aims to ”transform the collective influence of NBA players into products, partnerships and global business opportunities,” the organization launched Own the Game, a campaign and short film that Kendrick Lamar’s Project 3 Agency produced and Neal Farmer directed.The film’s roster includes 22 NBA players ranging from veterans to rookies — 11 of whom are current and former NBA All-Stars. The lineup features newly minted NBA champions Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks, alongside Deni Avdija, Jaylen Brown, Jalen Duren, Kawhi Leonard, Donovan Mitchell, Jamal Murray and Stephen Curry. Kyrie Irving, a decorated player himself who navigated his own personal brand into deals with brands such as Anta, narrated the film.“For too long … everyone profited from player culture … except the players themselves,” Irving declares in the striking yet stripped-down spot. The video draws the audience’s attention to tense close-up shots and the sound of a basketball echoing through what appears to be an apartment building where each player is listed as a tenant. Other featured players in the ad include Karlo Matković, Gabe Vincent, Jaren Jackson Jr., Mason Plumlee, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Yang Hansen, Jared McCain, Jaime Jaquez Jr., V. J. Edgecombe, Grant Williams, Fred VanVleet and Lonzo Ball.“[This campaign and platform] are really about trying to make sure [people know that] for so long, the guys have created value for other brands that exist outside of themselves. They’ve been the face for those brands, but haven’t been partnering with and building their own narrative,” David Kelly, executive director of the NBPA and CEO of Plyrs Untd, told Campaign. “We want to create the opportunity for them to really be engaged in the building of the narrative and other brands, as opposed to just sort of [being a face on] the billboard.”Plyrs Untd replaces Think450, the union’s previous for-profit arm, which for years had licensed the players’ name, image and likeness (NIL) to corporations and was known only to the industry, Kelly said.“Launching Plyrs Untd is about understanding the value that the collective player rights have in the eyes of consumers, fans and the public, and just going direct [with that message].”Under the new brand, partners can exclusively access its “Lifestyle Player Image Library” for marketing purposes and have opportunities for premier sponsorships at the Plyrs Untd Performance Center. The space, a former Los Angeles Clippers training-facility-turned-state-of-the-art venue, is “designed to connect brands with each player’s niche community in a carefully curated, elevated atmosphere” where players can work on their game, shoot content, host programming and build their fan, team and player community. During this past All-Star weekend in February, the organization introduced Plyrs House, describing it as “a co-created premium experience” and a “cornerstone initiative showcasing how the brand shows up at cultural events around the world.” The next iteration of the space, which featured activations by 10 of the players, will take place during the 2026 Summer League and feature NBPA VP Jaylen Brown and Kyle Kuzma.“The main goal is to have this brand that’s able to be understood and communicate directly to fans and consumers, but also to have guys be engaged in it,” Kelly said.He added that the decision to work with Project 3 for the campaign “speaks to what we’re trying to build with the brand,” noting the agency’s previous work and Lamar’s own reputation for artistic excellence and cultural understanding. “What we want our brand to embody is people who authentically represent the culture and who are excellent out of their work,” he said. “Kendrick is excellent as an artist, but also has been able to take that authenticity, who he is and what he knows and move it into other businesses and create other businesses. He is — on the music side — the personification of what we think so many of our guys are in the sports space and what we want the brand to represent. Kendrick is in some ways like an avatar for what it is that we’re trying to build.”Regarding the decision to feature marquee players such as Curry, Brunson, Towns and Mitchell in the campaign, Kelly said he feels it sends a strong, united message to fans, brands and crucially, across the league. He noted that they were intentional about ensuring different profiles, teams, career levels and ages came together for a single shared purpose. “It’s really important that we have some very high-profile players that are represented in part of the campaign and some people who you would have to be a real basketball aficionado and fan to recognize because it has to be something that speaks to everyone, “ he said. “That’s the beauty of what it is that we’re trying to build here through the collective rights — that everyone is sharing equally in these rights and to have the stars be willing to lean in and jump in on this. It’s not something that guys usually will lean into unless they really feel connected to the brand that we’re building, and [this campaign] was a testament to [that].”Additionally, the brand incorporated a new visual identity, replacing the traditional basketball with a geometric equation signifying “collective ownership and individual power.” The emblem, which Montreal-based creative consultancy studio The Troys designed, features four seats around a shared center of power, anchored by an “X,” to represent the completion of a “starting five” roster in a basketball game. The union will also rebrand its social media presence to reflect the new direction. (Photo credit: NBPA, used with permission)