Converse Wade 4 MIA: D-Wade to Nike?

Last season, NBA superstar and champion, Dwyane Wade, was seldom seen rocking his Wade 4's by Converse on the court. Apparently, Wade has recently cleared up that issue, making it known he plans to jump to the Nike Jumpman line as part of the Team Jordan family. Wade, a Chicago native, will now be on board with other superstars in Jordan's team and the Nike brand including Richard Hamilton, Carmelo Anthony, Lebron James (who has his own line), and Kobe Bryant.

Wade cites the fact that he doesn't know how good Converse will do in the basketball market, and it seemed the company didn't quite know what to did with him. They previously had the Flash campaigns but not much else. Comparing it to Nike's clever marketing for such pieces as "The Lebrons" and the "MVPuppets with Lebron and Kobe", Wade made the logical choice to sign with the top brand for ballers. Wade's T-Mobile commercials with Charles Barkley have also been amongst some of the best made and funniest basketball ads around.

It was reported from CBS4.com from Miami that Wade wore a pair of Converse sneakers at Zo's Summer Groove basketball game this past Sunday, but that may be the last time he's seen doing so.

The Nike Jordan XX3 Ad

There's a brand new Nike commercial out for the Air Jordan XX3 sneakers. It features a narrative by MJ himself with a montage of various sports stars doing what they do best. Included in the ad are NBA ballers like Rip Hamilton, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Joe Johnson and Ray Allen.

Here's the powerful words from the legendary Air Jordan:

It's not about the shoes,
its about knowing where you're going,
not forgetting where you started.

It's about having the courage to fail,
not breaking when you are broken,
taking everything you have been given,
and making something better.

It's about work before glory,
and what's inside of you.

It's doing what they say you can't.
It's not about the shoes, it's what you do in them.
It's about being who you were born to be.

Check out the YouTube video for Nike commercial.

Lebron's NY State of Mind

(Lebron's latest kicks with a NY flavor)

As if LeBron James doesn’t have enough shoe designs, here comes another one. The Air Zoom V LeBron shoes are inspired by his favorite baseball team, the New York Yankees. Talk about a smack in the face for Indians fans, but that’s not here nor there. The blue & white shoe features white pinstripes running along the shoe and on the tongue behind #23, not only LeBron’s number, but the number of Yankee legend, Don Mattingly. The shoe is set to be released in March and will be sold only in New York, so Indians fans needn’t worry about seeing the shoe in Cleveland stores.

Full story at CNBC.com.

Special thanks to Erica K for this news story.