One wonders how long Nike’s been sitting on this congratulatory commercial for LeBron James, which debuted shortly after the Heat completed their five-game beatdown of the Oklahoma City Thunder. I mean, it’s not like Nike whipped this up while the Heat were pulling away in the second half of Game 5 or anything. Something like this takes some time, which begs another question: what would’ve happened to this commercial if the Thunder would’ve came back and stole the series from the Heat?
Would Nike have thrown it out, like the baby and the bathwater, or would they have sat on it until LeBron actually won a ring? Inquiring minds want to know.
As for the commercial itself, it’s very well done. It follows an older man who works a jeweler as he is creating a ring for the champion James finally became. Naturally, the construction of LeBron’s ring gets delayed a couple of times, courtesy of the San Antonio Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks. Inevitably, at least from Nike’s point of view, James completed his goal of winning it all, allowing the jeweler to finish the ring he’s been working on. As pointed out by Ball Don’t Lie (Yahoo’s NBA blog), Nike’s creating something of a history with LeBron and the jeweler in the commercial:
LeBron and the ring maker go way back to the days of Akron afros and high school dunks. When one sliced through the paint, the other carved through wax. Together, their journey has proven that even those destined for greatness have to earn it.
Good thing LeBron joined forces with Dwyane Wade, or else who knows how long the Ring Maker would’ve been working on that championship ring.