Michael Jordan Video: Watch NBA Stars Ball with the World

The NBA may be in lockout mode, but that hasn't kept the league's stars from connecting with fans.

Nike released an ad on Monday entitled Jordan: Love The Game featuring stars such as Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony playing basketball with a variety of recreational leagues around the globe.

From Miami Kiwanis Club League to Bayou Women's League to the Jewish Under 40 League to Towers Park in Beijing, stars rep the jerseys of their hosts and engage in a good ol' fashioned pickup game.

Read a caption under the video's official YouTube page: "Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, and Carmelo Anthony won't stop balling. Nobody can take away your love of the game. That's yours to keep."

Sounds to me like Nike is ever so slightly hinting that us fans can still enjoy basketball after four weeks of the NBA's regular season have already been cancelled. As in, please stay interested in the NBA because we have some merchandise we want you to buy.

Clever, Nike, clever.

Well, it worked, because now I want to go to my local YMCA and show everyone my sick crossover and crazy vertical leap (as long as the hoop is nine-feet tall).

Nike wouldn't be the marketing giant it is without knowing how to push all the right buttons. What better way to soften NBA fans' angry glares than to show we are all in this together?

Instead of billionaires and millionaires arguing over money, it's more about how the players are hurting just as much as the fans. You know, because they love the game.

But Wade, Paul and Anthony may want to think about easing up a bit in their pickup games. There's nothing more discouraging for fans than going up for a shot and getting emphatically rejected.