--- title: Hero Ball | 6th Hashtag Sports Awards description: Global awards recognizing excellence in fan engagement and celebrating creativity across sports marketing, media & entertainment image: https://www.hashtagsports.com/hubfs/awards/shortlist-2024/hero-ball.webp --- Hero Ball | 6th Hashtag Sports Awards # Hero Ball [Bleacher Report](https://bleacherreport.com/) The 6th Annual Awards Winner ![trophy-icon-silver](https://www.hashtagsports.com/hubfs/brand/trophy-icon-silver.svg) Share [** ](https://www.hashtagsports.com/awards/shortlist-2024/hero-ball#) [** ](https://www.hashtagsports.com/awards/shortlist-2024/hero-ball#) [** ](https://www.hashtagsports.com/awards/shortlist-2024/hero-ball#) ABOUT THIS ENTRY Hero Ball is an action-packed web series that reimagines the current NBA landscape as a sprawling anime epic about powerful fighters who compete to be the best in the land. Can the young and raw Celtics finally get it together? Is Lebron’s stranglehold on the western lands waning? Will Zion ever level up? By reimagining major real-life storylines as epic anime clashes, Hero Ball celebrates today’s basketball stars with an irreverent comedic tone, topical jokes and eye-catching animation. Episodes of the show air across many platforms, including YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and the B/R App. ![Image](https://www.hashtagsports.com/hs-fs/hubfs/awards/shortlist-2024/hero-ball.webp?width=1920&height=1080&name=hero-ball.webp) How does this represent “Excellence in Engagement”? Sports-centric animation is a small genre of content, but with Hero Ball, B/R can reach many fans in a non-traditional way. When creating serialized content in the digital landscape, the biggest channel is winning viewers over enough to cause them to be invested in future episodes and seasons to come. We accomplish this by featuring popular NBA players and the most topical storylines being discussed in the NBA landscape at the time, which initially draws viewers in. Then, they are thoroughly engaged by the creative spin we bring to real life NBA, causing them to become invested in future episodes and seasons. Once they are hooked to the show’s universe, they tend to go back and watch earlier episodes and seasons. By serializing this content into a narrative show format, we can ensure that people will seek out Hero Ball episodes months, even years, after they initially air. Continuing this cycle ensures that our fanbase keeps wanting more. Objective Throughout the years, B/R Animation has successfully produced several projects and hit series across various genres and sports. Our specialty is researching the current popular trends and storylines, then producing creative content at the intersection of sports and pop culture. In creating other anime-adjacent content that has found great success, we discovered a substantial overlap between young sports fans and the anime genre. Naturally we decided to combine these two distinct interests into one project, Hero Ball. With Hero Ball, the team is able to retell the story of an NBA season through comedy and tapping into the Anime style, a genre with ever-growing popularity, to reach fans in a way that news, highlights, and podcasts cannot. Through Hero Ball, we’re able to tell engaging stories that the modern NBA fan isn’t typically able to see come to life. Strategy & Execution Born out of trial and error with one-off anime videos created by the B/R Animation Team, Hero Ball is designed to appeal to an ever-growing cross-section of basketball and anime fans. Gen Z sports content consumption has deviated from trends set by previous generations that consisted of people rooting for specific teams. Now more than ever, younger fans are following specific players from franchise to franchise. With this in mind, our creative decisions center on a player-first mentality, celebrating specific player accomplishments as opposed to focusing on team success. This strategy allows fan-favorite players from different franchises, that may not play together typically, to serve as heroes in their own stories. This appeals to both the younger fan who is enthused to watch their favorite player, and anime fans who are familiar with Hero-focused content. Hero Ball thrives on finding the sweet spot of short and digestible content, while maintaining a high level of artistic quality and basketball knowledge to keep younger fans engaged. **Organizations** - Bleacher Report - TNT Sports - Warner Bros. Discovery **Links** - [  Hero Ball | Season 2](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoqDIJHlyN3OpycmkH7OPXCkxnES1yLqW) **Credits** **[Hal Lee](https://www.linkedin.com/in/hal-lee-71913a197/)** Director Bleacher Report **[Chester Knebel](https://www.linkedin.com/in/chet-knebel-1733bb169/)** Lead Animator Bleacher Report **[Matthew Rodriguez](https://goo.gl/photos/j48ufxpK553VSGNT7)** Animator Bleacher Report **[Elena Suarez](https://www.linkedin.com/in/elenaenvena/)** Animator Bleacher Report **[Mimi Chiu](https://www.linkedin.com/in/chium/)** Animator Bleacher Report **[Richard Silvius](https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-silvius-10474940/)** Background Artist Bleacher Report **[Tom Soulen](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-soulen/)** Background Artist Bleacher Report **[Jean Yu](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jean-yu-001/)** Background Artist Bleacher Report **[Nikki Sharma](https://www.linkedin.com/in/platynyx/)** Animator Bleacher Report **[Rachel Headlam](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-headlam-730b64148/)** Animator Bleacher Report **[Sean Sullivan](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-patrick-sullivan/)** Animator Bleacher Report **[Erica Perez](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericaperezanimator/)** Animator Bleacher Report **[Amanda DePasquale](https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-depasquale-b64b6875/)** Animator Bleacher Report **[Brian Martin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-martin-93169aa6/)** Animator Bleacher Report **[KK Glore](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kk-glore-196500134)** Animator Bleacher Report **[Jeff Brody](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-brody-b0274aa/)** Compositor Bleacher Report **[Dennis Flynn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennis-flynn-61a49396/)** Executive Producer Bleacher Report **[Kristofer Wollinger](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristoferwollinger/)** Supervising Producer of Animation Bleacher Report **[Chris Thompson](https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-t-8aa449160/)** Head Writer Bleacher Report **[Evan Matthews](https://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-matthews-40529a86/)** Producer Bleacher Report **[Chelsea Kurtz](https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsea-kurtz-a122023b/)** Producer Bleacher Report **[Amy Strauss](https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-rebecca-strauss/)** Producer Bleacher Report **[Myriam Wilson](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mywilson/)** Producer Bleacher Report **[Eddie Mostert](https://www.linkedin.com/in/eduard-eddie-mostert-3a76467b/)** Editor Bleacher Report **[Tyler Price](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-price-72a18923/)** Co-Executive Producer Bleacher Report **[Kenny Beecham](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennybeecham/)** Co-Executive Producer Bleacher Report **[Vance Tucker](https://www.linkedin.com/in/vance-tucker-6371607/)** Writer Bleacher Report #### Celebrate in NYC Join us for the 6th Annual Hashtag Sports Awards™ on the evening of June 6, 2024 as we celebrate finalists and reveal the winners of this year's awards live during the show.   [![RESERVE SEATS](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/834568/c79439a7-e53f-4aa9-9d60-2b68caf80d89.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/834568/c79439a7-e53f-4aa9-9d60-2b68caf80d89)