Nike Basketball’s 10 Best TV Commercials
Nike Basketball churns out the dopest commercials every season like it’s nothing. What do you expect, though—with million-dollar budgets and practically every NBA star trying to be down, why not enlist big-name directors and pull out all the stops for some dope-ass ads?
We peeped Nike’s latest clip and it’s another sureshot, featuring Kevin Durant, Mo Williams, Rashard Lewis, and Andre Iguodala as Compton-style rappers (word to the immortal DJ Quik). It made us think of all the past Nike hoops ads we enjoyed growing up. We narrowed a list down to the 10 best Nike Basketball commercials ever (note: Nike only, no Jordan Brand) so check the videos below and see if your favorites made the cut….
#10 COMMERCIAL: Brand New Day
FEATURING: Vince Carter
It’s funny to see a tall-ass basketball player dance like he’s Gene Kelly in Singin’ in the Rain.
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#9 COMMERCIAL: No Excuses
FEATURING: Matt Scott (wheelchair basketball player)
Whenever we’re feeling lazy, we watch this ad for motivation—Just do it.
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#8 COMMERCIAL: Nike Shox
FEATURING: Gary Payton and Vince Carter
We bought Nike Shox solely because we thought we’d be able to dunk like this.
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#7 COMMERCIAL: Swimming Pool
FEATURING: The LeBrons
Watching Lebron James play different personalities is hilarious. His soft-spoken, womanizer character is especially funny.
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#6 COMMERCIAL: Marvin Gaye x USA Team
FEATURING: Marvin Gaye and the 2008 Olympics USA Basketball Team
Nike took footage of Marvin Gaye singing the national anthem at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game and combined it with images of Team USA training for the 2008 Olympics. Real touching, real dope.
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CLICK NEXT FOR THE TOP 5
dh24 August 11, 2009 at 5:57 pm
love the post yall forgot j o’neal in the #1 video
Jordan August 11, 2009 at 6:02 pm
The Neptunes produced the beat for #2.
ithinkiloveher August 11, 2009 at 6:22 pm
#2 was like the hottest shit EVER when it dropped. everyone on the court was trying that shit.
RobertistheMan August 11, 2009 at 6:34 pm
What happened to the Fun Police??? Come on man I know they not on You Tube but the FP was hot, no Dr. Funk either what sneaker head don’t know about Rayguns yall slippin but the rest of the list is legit.
swizzy August 11, 2009 at 6:37 pm
you guys should def do a post like this for the jordan brand gems. i’ll be waiting patiently.
B.F August 11, 2009 at 7:50 pm
come on… not one Jordan commercial??? u guys are slippin?!?!?!?!
B.dot August 11, 2009 at 8:56 pm
#2 brings back memories. People who had no handles at all were out there trying to show off on the court.
Jimmy Smith August 12, 2009 at 8:53 am
It’s a good starter list, but y’all missed a few. I worked at Wieden + Kennedy, back in the day, so I was able to dig a little deeper into the crate.
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised with KRS-1 redoing Gil Scott Heron
The Barber Shop joints
The Iceman Cooketh
Charles Barkley’s I Am Not A Role Model
Trash Talk featuring streetball legend Peewee “Stickman” Kirkland
Quarter starring “Jumpin’” Jackie Jackson
Bernie Mac and ‘Bron in the Book of Dimes
And, of course, no list would be complete without Rucker Park, Roswell Rayguns and Funkship from the Nike Funk campaign, which starred Vince “Dr. Funk” Carter, Bootsy Collins and Snoop.
Jayanta Jenkins August 12, 2009 at 9:09 am
Please let us not forget Lebron James in CHAMBER OF FEAR!
sneakerdigga August 12, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Some nice one´s but I miss some!
PhantomvoX August 12, 2009 at 12:37 pm
No Jordan commercial ??!? In a top ten of the best nike commercials ? The best EVER had some of the best commercials ever in the history of commercials for a sport athlete, so.. You suck dude !
jthagreat August 12, 2009 at 1:23 pm
RobertistheMan and Jimmy no what they talkin bout.
theres no way the 2nd coming is better than #2.
GP and Garnett fun Police. “He’s not even lettin the ground touch the ball!!!”
carmine 6 August 12, 2009 at 3:40 pm
The TRUTH is speakin! YOU SHOULD LISTEN!
How are you gonna leave out paul pierce??!!
carmine 6 August 12, 2009 at 3:43 pm
That was my number 1 pick too
NikeBlog.com August 12, 2009 at 4:07 pm
The Fun Police is definitely the best Nike commercial series of all time, but Weiden+Kennedy has done a hell of a job keeping every single copy of every single commercial off the internet.
Jimmy Smith August 12, 2009 at 11:49 pm
Truth! Chamber of Fear with RZA doing the beats and Fun Police, too. Forgot about those joints.
leo August 13, 2009 at 2:34 am
who was rapping on the VC Brand New Day commercial? i can’t put a name to the voice
John August 13, 2009 at 9:09 am
Leo that was Joe Budden. I’d switch #2 with #1, even though Just Blaze killed that beat. The rest of this list is good, but come on, NOT ONE MARS BLACKMON COMMERECIAL?
bennieblancoh August 13, 2009 at 9:12 am
It’s Joe Budden in the VC video.
stereo August 13, 2009 at 12:11 pm
those are some damn good commercials
champion88 August 13, 2009 at 3:48 pm
How could Y’all not put M.j.The one who put Nike on the map !!!! or Mr.(David)Robinson’s neighborhood or Bo jackson’s just do it joints !!!!
ProfessorPlum August 19, 2009 at 4:34 am
No Grandmama?! Larry Johnson was the ish in those
Azha August 20, 2009 at 1:46 pm
I like the second coming too :D