Three decades after 1994, Charles Barkley cannot get one Nike commercial off his mind. Notably, the ad featured ex-Golden State Warriors star Chris Webber hitting a behind-the-back dunk against Barkley, who was with the Phoenix Suns back then. However, there was more to the commercial that made the 61-year-old go down memory lane.

Even the journalist covering the footwear industry, NBA, WNBA, and NIL marketing, Nick DePaula, finds it hilarious that even after 30 years of the Nike commercial, Charles Barkley is still mad at the brand. “I still ain’t gotten over that CWebb,” DePaula quoted in his post on X.

Notably, the Nike commercial in discussion not only featured Webber’s dunk against Barkley but also Webber discussing it with his teammate Latrell Sprewell. Sprewell asked Webber what Barkley’s reaction was to the dunk. “He said, ‘I don’t believe in role models, but you mine,'” the ex-Warriors star replied in the commercial.

The most recent instance of Charles Barkley speaking in the 1994 Nike commercial occurred on NBA TNT. It started with a discussion about Joel Embiid scoring 50 points against the New York Knicks in Game 3. The discussion subsequently led to the time Barkley recorded a 50-point game in 1994, and along came the memories of the Nike commercial.

Notably, it was just one game before this 50-point game that Webber had scored the commercial’s behind-the-back dunk against Barkley. “That’s when Chris Webber pissed me off and made the Nike commercial… I wanted to give it to you, C-Webb!” Barkley said this on NBA TNT recently. However, it is worth mentioning that this has never actually affected the mentor-mentee relationship shared between Barkley and Webber.

The origin of the ‘role model’ reference made in the 1994 Nike commercial

It goes back to the year 1993 when Nike was looking to regain its grasp on teenage customers as the brand had witnessed a decline in the numbers, according to an article by Yahoo Sports in 2019. And the brand approached Charles Barkley with a thought-provoking commercial that challenged social norms.

However, Barkley wanted the commercial to project the kids’ parents as their idols. And not the popular athletes they never met. And the commercial went accordingly, with Barkley stating, “I am not a role model. I am not paid to be a role model. I’m paid to wreak havoc on the basketball court. Parents should be role models. Just because I dunk a basketball doesn’t mean I should raise your kids.”

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It was after one year that this spot aired that the Chris Webber commercial came in. And “I am not a role model” acted as a premise for Webber’s humorous, “He said, ‘I don’t believe in role models, but you mine,” took on Barkley’s reply to his behind-the-back dunk.