Remember those awesome "Nothin' But Net" commercials where Larry Bird and Michael Jordan played HORSE for a Big Mac? Of course you do, but here's a reminder anyway...


McDonald's is in negotiations to remake the commercial, only with current stars Dwyane Wade and Lebron James instead of Larry and Michael. "The idea is to contemporize 'Nothin' but Net' to 2007 and make it relevant for the two best players in the NBA today and fit their personalities and relationship," said Bill Lamar, chief marketing officer for McDonald's USA.

The two best players in the NBA? That's an interesting statement, considering that neither of them are being seriously considered for this year's MVP award. And, given his string of 50-point games this season, I'd say Kobe is a step or two ahead of them in the "best player" race. Maybe what Lamar should have said is the two most marketable players in the NBA today. Because they aren't the best players (although they're at least in the discussion), or even the best shooters (and not even close on that count). I'd be much more interested in seeing a HORSE shootout between Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki (the MVP frontrunners and 50+ percent shooters), or even Nash and Kobe, whose relative values are continuously debated by NBA fans and analysts.

But instead, we'll be forced to watch two players with clunky, inconsistent jumpers both shooting and (probably) swishing one ridiculous shot after another, even though we all really know they can't shoot that well. Bird, obviously, always had a fantastic outside shot, and by 1993 Jordan had transformed himself into one of the best shooters in the game (inside the arc, anyway), so the original commercials kind of made sense. The new one (as proposed) doesn't, except from a marketing standpoint. So while the goal is to capture the spirit of the original commercial, they really won't be able to with the players they've chosen.

Labels: commercials, Dwyane Wade, Larry Bird, Lebron James, McDonald's, Michael Jordan