Vitamin Water

With the Cleveland Cavaliers now down 3-1 to the Orlando Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets knotted at two wins apiece, the folks at Vitaminwater are scrambling to figure out how to update their Kobe vs. LeBron spot.

The Coca-Cola

KO loading...

Quote  |  Chart  |  News  |  Profile

[KO  Loading...      ()   ] owned brand has spent plenty of dollars on television and on supplementing two days worth of Kobe vs. LeBron debates on ESPN.com over the past week. And while it might seem like this might be the latest version of "Dan Vs. Dave," Vitaminwater has plenty of ammunition left should the unexpected matchup happen.

Why? As we eluded to last week, Orlando Magic center is a Vitaminwater guy. Well, so too is Denver Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups.  If it's Magic-Nuggets, expect the folks at Vitaminwater to utilize both Howard and Billups in some sort of spot.

Ad insiders are certainly watching to see how quickly the brand can put something to market and whether they'll just do Web advertising and YouTube or if they'll be nimble enough to put something on the air. In an interesting twist, Coca-Cola's stable of drinks also owns the endorsement rights to Carmelo Anthony. Anthony endorses Powerade.

It's scary to think how much of a non-player Gatorade has become. While Vitaminwater has decided to make an investment in athlete deals in the major sports, Gatorade has tried to spread out their endorsement deals among a wider range of sports. According to Gatorade's Web site, the only active NBA player they have under contract is Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade.

Update: Jones On The NBA (Twitter: @JonesOnTheNBA) reminds me that Kevin Garnett and Kevin Durant are still also under contract by Gatorade.

Questions?  Comments?