GetYourBasketballOn.com is the new hotness, son! And it’s officially a Nike production. Oh right — in case you haven’t seen the Charlie Murphy Leroy Smith videos, there’s one after the jump (via Littmann at TSB) and here’s the basic premise: Leroy is the guy who started Michael Jordan’s career. Or made him what he was.

Without Leroy, Jordan would be like a “clown without a big red nose.” And Leroy sat down in an expose determined to find out once and for all where MJ earned his powers. It’s a shame, though, that it didn’t happen until now, because Leroy might have already retired off the earnings from his (allegedly) hit video series: Get Your Basketball On.

But anyway, back to the Nike thing: we now know it’s a Nike.com production because of the WhoIs.Net screenshot above. The transparency in the Swoosh’s Web registration is in stark contrast to the way that the videos are set up, considering there are exactly zero mentions of Nike and/or product placement combined. Obviously, that doesn’t play to marketing a particular brand, per se, although it’s easily arguable that Michael Jordan = Nike more than anything else, and by simply attaching his name and the Jumpman (word on the street is that MJ’s personal brand is what’s being pushed here), Nike’s done more than enough to let the world know what company is sponsoring this advertising push.

And, to be perfectly frank, it’s brilliant (not to mention the definition of “viral”) and another sign as to how Nike “gets it” when it comes to creating compelling advertising content — constantly being told “BUY THIS!” does nearly nothing to the average consumer at this point, because we’re all bombarded incessantly by product placement and purchasing pushes. But when a company suddenly makes its commercials not about the product itself and more about good content, well, that’s when we agree that they’re smart and hip and cool and happening and whatnot and acquiesce to busting out the credit card.

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