Playing streetball, we have all encountered the different types of ballers that nag about everything (fouls, calling timeouts that were never real, and not calling backboard off bank shots). The judge character fits perfect with LBJ’s career as we have all been “Witnesses” to watching him play. After being under the microscope for so long, Powerade has given LeBron the opportunity to get his payback in his own courtroom, donning the grey wig to match the judge criteria. But after his coronation in 2012, LeBron’s popularity sky-rocketed, making him one of the most beloved sports figures in our generation. Prior to LeBron winning two NBA championships, he was getting slaughtered and criticized for everything he did. The commercial was released a couple days ago but that does not mean that “Judge James” cannot make this list. Some of the best basketball commercials in history featured some of the best characters, and I counted down the most memorable of them here. Rather than players simply putting on a smile and appearing in a commercial for a brand, companies such as Nike went over the top by creating fictional characters in entertaining marketing attempts. Every marketable basketball player has had the opportunity to be in commercials but there are only a select few that have had the chance to have their own alter-ego or sidekick in commercials. Penny was LeBron James before LeBron James in the ’90s and was next in line for basketball reign as the legends of the ’80s were retiring. For a little kid like me, the commercials were brilliant because it brought fun outside of basketball. Growing up in the Michael Jordan era, I remember watching all of the dope Nike commercials featuring a new star at the time by the name of Penny Hardaway and his alter-ego puppet Lil’ Penny. In the series, James stars as Judge James, enforcing the rules of basketball to ballers that simply do not get the ethics of streetball “Thou shall drink their own drink” or call “the ticky-tacky foul”. With the release of a new series with Powerade entitled “Streetball Court,” LeBron James is part of a cast of elite basketball players that have appeared in commercials under a different alias.
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