Nike Pays Tribute to LeBron James on First NBA Championship

When LeBron James made his infamous decision two summers ago and took his talents to the Miami Heat to share space with fellow stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, it appeared that the south Florida team was ready to build itself a massive trophy case and start filling it pronto. 

The team couldn’t quite get it done last year versus the Dallas Mavericks but has now achieved its big goal of winning an NBA championship with the Big Three. The re-tweeting James may be one of the NBA’s best player, if not the best right now, but he’s been told numerous times that he won’t be remembered so much down the line if he can’t come up with some championships.

This was his third trip to the Finals, with one coming while he still ruled the world of the Cleveland Cavaliers. And after all of that, LeBron’s pals over at Nike were ready as soon as the last buzzer sounded in the team’s Game 5 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder that finished off the series with a tribute video to the King.

As Nike notes in its press release, "The spot launched globally after Miami’s closeout game and continues to run via digital and social media networks around the world."

Titled “The Ring Maker,” the commercial follows a jeweler who tracks LeBron’s career via video highlights from high school to the Cavs and all his adventures there before joining the Heat and nearly bringing home a title last year. All along the way, the jeweler keeps working on a ring for James, which he of course finishes off for James as he wins a championship and earns himself an MVP award as well.

What would have happened if Kevin Durant and the Thunder came back to win the whole tamale? Well, the commercial would have likely had to go into mothballs and get re-edited next time the Heat made it in.

It was a pretty good idea for Nike to jump on the winners’ train as quickly as possible. A lot of folks had not been able to show LeBron any love since he showed his youth two summers ago and left Cleveland without much grace. Now there are plenty who have jumped onto his bandwagon, though there of course still remain a solid band of LeBron dislikers. There will likely always be a few of those no matter how many championships he wins. He’ll just have to get used to it.