With the 2023-24 NBA season tipping off this evening, the folks over at Nike decided it was time to drop a brand-new basketball commercial. A couple of Kentucky Wildcats made surprise cameos, too.

Current Kentucky freshman guard DJ Wagner and former Kentucky guard turned NBA All-Star Devin Booker were both featured in Nike’s latest commercial titled “Only Basketball”. The ad highlights one of the most routine parts of pickup basketball: the check ball. It doesn’t matter if you’re playing on a court in the middle of nowhere or inside a fancy gym, the check-ball is one of the first things a young hooper learns about the game.

Booker makes his appearance first in the commercial — rocking his debut signature shoe, the Nike Book 1, of course — as he faces a quintuple team that fails to block his unguardable, Kobe Bryant-esque jumper. Wagner pops in just a few seconds later, but from a location you wouldn’t expect to see a check ball — a high school dance. Wagner squares up and blurts out “Let’s see what you got” as gets in a stance to defend Southern California freshman guard JuJu Watkins, who was actually Wagner’s senior prom date earlier this year.

The commercial also includes appearances from the likes of rapper Travis Scott, WNBA two-time MVP A’ja Wilson, and future NBA Hall of Famer LeBron James. When you’re doing an ad with LeBron James, you’re doing something right. You can watch the 60-second video below.

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