9 Of Nike’s Most Iconic Commercials

July 15, 2014 - 10:28 pm by Terrence Watson

Jordan Brand’s new commercial dedicated to Derrick Jeter is damn near perfect, defining how much the sports world respects the Yankee captain for all he’s done in his 20 year career. Tonight, Jeter will be honored by the MLB in some fashion in what will be his last All Star Game as a player, but Nike and Jordan got the “honoring Jeter the right way” ball rolling, early. Jeter’s had so many moments in pinstripes and Nike’s no stranger to creating captivating commercials for audiences to cherish for generations.

Here’s a list of past iconic commercials courtesy of the swish.

Air Jordan III “Mars and Mike” Commercial Michael Jordan’s had some great commercials, but if we had to pick one, his collaboration with Spike Lee’s alter ego, Mars Blackmon, is too classic not to kick off this list. The creativity, the lighthearted interactions; the simplicity made it so perfect.

Blake Griffin x Dr. Drain As a bit of an ode to MJ and Mars, Jordan Brand brought back the star athlete and nerdy glasses wearing geek paring for Blake Griffin’s commercial. Dr. Drain can’t hit the ocean with a rock from a boat. Lucky for him he’s hooping with Blake Griffin, who catches everything the good doctor puts in the air.

LeBron James Training Day Once LeBron jetted to South Beach, Nike took advantage of (and kind of poked fun at) the idea of his huge bandwagon. His fans would love nothing more than to train with him for a day. And if all his (former?) fans in Miami got the chance to, this is what it’d look like.

Nike Football: The Last Game (World Cup 2014) There were tons of great ads this past World Cup, but Nike’s short animated spot was superb. Stars like Neymar, Rooney, Ronaldo and USA’s Matt Howard had cartoon version’s of themselves defeat their bland counterparts in a reminder to soccer fans that in order to win, you have to Risk Everything.

Tiger Woods Golf Ball Tricks Fun Fact: This commercial wasn’t planned nor was the footage altered. When you’re as good at golf as Tiger is, you learn a few cool tricks (which he probably used to impress the ladies of the links). Producers kept the cameras rolling as Tiger just goofed off during an actual shoot. The rest is history.

Basketball Never Stops When the NBA lockout kept every NBA fan on their toes, Nike had to remind people why they love the game. Their stars, although clearly the best, would play and train wherever they could. And no matter what was going on in the pros, basketball never stops.

LeBron James’ First Commercial This was a cool moment to ‘witness.’ LeBron’s first game was scheduled against the Sacramento Kings and Nike took advantage of that. A pre-headbanned LeBron froze and pretended to choke in front of the crowd, only to laugh at attack the rim.

Nike Puppets At one point it looked like we’d finally get that Kobe Bryant vs. LeBron James NBA Finals match we all wanted, but it just never happened. So how did Nike make sure we watched them both equally during playoff breaks? Puppets.