Jordan Brand Releases RE2PECT

Jul 10, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter (2) waves during a pre-game ceremony in his honor at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

He was a cultural icon. He was the face of the greatest team in baseball during one of their most memorable runs. Love him or hate him, you had to RE2PECT him. Nike captured what Derek Jeter meant to New York and baseball in one minute and forty seconds of one of the most riveting commercials of all-time.

The Jordan Brand pays tribute to Jeter on air officially Tuesday night at the All-Star Game, but social media previewed it Monday. It will evoke chills to any Yankees’ fan who lived though his 20-year career and those four World Series rings he helped bring back to New York before the turn of the millennium. The Jordan Brand avoided your typical highlight reel and passed on the sappy montages in putting together an A-List tribute of who’s who in NYC for the Yankees’ Captain.

From NYPD and NYFD all the way to Jay-Z, over twenty big names collaborated to send Jeter off in stunning style. Rudy Giuliani, Carmelo Anthony, Billy Crystal, Tiger Woods, Phil Jackson, and Spike Lee join a conglomerate of faces that people associate with NYC. The real beauty of the ad was not just friends and fans of Jeter joining in, but foes as well.

, two fans at a Boston bar, and not just

and a few Mets, but Mr. Met himself join in the sendoff. No image in the commercial says cool more than the Core Four,

, and

sitting in a NYC restaurant dressed to the nines looking like they own the joint.

A last nod from Jordan himself, and Jeter refocuses at Jon Lester ready to swing away with the Bleacher Creature-led “DE-REK JE-TER” emanating through NYC. Jeter was the Jordan Brand’s first baseball player way back in 1999 and has had 12 cleats made since he came aboard. So, tomorrow night as you watch Jeter come to the plate in his 14th and final All Star Game, be sure to tip your cap and pay your RE2PECT.