The story goes that in 10th grade Michael Jordan was cut from his varsity team and that the final spot went to his classmate, a player named Leroy Smith. This failure motivated Jordan to become the greatest player of all time as Leroy became a constant reminder of his first taste of failure. From this insight, “Leroy Smith,” the character, a wildly successful motivational guru (played by Charlie Murphy), was born. This persona entertains audiences, celebrates MJ as the greatest player of all time and presents a reverential message from Jordan Brand in a fresh, irreverent way.

The “Get Your Basketball On” infomercial was the fans’ introduction to Leroy’s world. It presented Leroy’s unique skill as Michael Jordan’s master motivator, introduced his three pillars of success (Motivize! Pulverize! Realize!) and gave fans the URL to access his website which was chock-full of “motivational” goodness.

Client: Nike, Agency: Wieden+Kennedy