Fans are introduced to the iconic MJ vs. MJ Gatorade commercial featuring the future NBA Sixth Man of the Year playing a younger version of Jordan – twenty years after the commercial first aired.
Michael Jordan has been the face of Gatorade for years.
The former Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards all-time great starred in several memorable commercials for the sports drink company during its heyday.
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None are more famous than the 1991 “Be Like Mike” commercial that captivated audiences, solidified MJ’s status as a cultural phenomenon and created one of the most iconic slogans in advertising history.
Another fan-favorite collaboration between Jordan and Gatorade was the “MJ vs. MJ” — or “23 vs. 39” — commercial that debuted in 2003, when a 39-year-old Jordan was playing for the Wizards.
The commercial shows Jordan training and making shots alone in a gym before a door opens and Michael Jordan enters.
Only, here’s young MJ, in a #23 Bulls jersey and a pair of red and black Air Jordans with hops on for days.
The enthusiastic rookie and the wily veteran go head-to-head and exchange trash talk before the more experienced version shows his class.
At the end, an even younger avatar of MJ – one from his college days in North Carolina – steps in and asks, “Who got next?”
It’s a dream for any basketball fan and a pretty unforgettable TV spot.
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However, fans are just discovering, some 21 years after the commercial first aired, that former NBA star Jamal Crawford played the younger version of Mike (the one wearing the Bulls uniform).
“I was 22, I think,” the three-time Sixth Man of the Year said. “And I was the younger version.”
The former Phoenix Suns guard explained that the advertising executive told him there were no lines of dialogue during filming and simply asked him to play one-on-one against Jordan.
“I start catching the ball, and (MJ) says, ‘You catch, I teach,'” Crawford recalled.
One shocked fan said: “I remember that advert. I didn’t know about Crawford’s role.”
However, Crawford also revealed that even though he did all the actions in a 1-on-1 manner, the dunk was actually made by Kevin Daley, a 6-foot-6, 210-pound MJ lookalike who played with the Harlem Globetrotters in journey. team.
“The guy playing young MJ did a really good job mimicking his iconic dunks,” one fan said.
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According to ESPN, the creative team at Element 79, a digital advertising agency in Chicago, brought the concept to life and photoshopped Jordan’s portrait onto Crawford and Daley.
“We wanted it to be a very simple, clear idea,” said Dennis Ryan, creative director at Element 79. “We wanted to treat it like a character study. Just Michael versus Michael.”
According to him, Daley was the only player they could find who could dunk like Mike.
The creative agency performed a cyber scan on Jordan’s head, shoulders and body and was able to create an incredibly accurate digital sculpture of a young Jordan that they superimposed on Crawford and Daley.
Their digital magic worked wonderfully and they created one of the coolest sports commercials ever made.
Jordan won six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s, including six Finals MVPs.
He was also part of the legendary 1992 U.S. Olympic team, nicknamed “The Dream Team,” arguably the greatest sports team ever assembled.
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