This time Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade’s super hero Agent D3 is late for practice in the second installment of Jordan Brand’s “Dominate Another Day” ad campaign.

Called “Escape,” the new ad shows Wade trapped in the Zen Master’s Lair, while ‘H’ (Kevin Hart) enjoys a holiday party. Instead of battling the streets of Miami as he did in the ad’s first installment, Wade uses a basketball to help fight enemies –- snakes, ninjas -- in the ad that gives nods to Indiana Jones and James Bond.

The new ad breaks during the Heat-Los Angeles Lakers Christmas Day game at 5 p.m. Saturday.

Miami Heat forward LeBron James is set to debut the newest version of Nike’s LeBron 8 on Christmas Day during the matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers. This one, called Lebron 8 V/2, is a very bright red called “Run On Red,” but still features James’ signature lion face on the tongue.

The $160 shoes launch at retail on Dec. 26. Additional colors are to be released Jan. 8.

Meanwhile, James’ shoe isn’t the only brightly-colored shoe to debut on Saturday as part of Nike’s stoplight set.

Across the court from James, we’ll see Lakers guard Kobe Bryant sporting the Nike Zoom Kobe VI dubbed “Green Means Go.” The bright green shoe features red laces. The shoes cost $130 and will be at retail on Dec. 26.

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant will sport the yellow shoes in the set. He’ll be showing off the KD III “No Yield for Yellow” in the Thunder’s game against the Denver Nuggets. This one includes five lightning bolts, piano keys representing Durant’s love of music, and “BF62” for Durant’s 62 points scored at Barry Farms in his native Washington, DC. Durant’s shoes cost $88.

A new Nike ad featuring Miami Heat forward LeBron James called “Rise” begins airing Tuesday night in conjunction with the start of the 2010-11 NBA season and the launch of the Nike LeBron 8 shoe at retail.

James is shown in a variety of situations, speaking his mind about his controversial decision this summer to join the Heat and his future. It even includes a segment with Don Johnson a la “Miami Vice” and features James saying “I am not a role model.”

The ad will air during TNT’s broadcast of the Heat’s highly-anticipated opening game against the Boston Celtics and during sports and entertainment programming across national networks into next month.

New Miami Heat forward LeBron James will launch his new signature Nike shoe, the LeBron 8, at the opening of a new House of Hoops by Foot Locker Store at Miami's Dadeland Mall on Saturday.

James will be speaking to 100 local student athletes about preparing for the upcoming season, his new shoe, and of course, "achieving success on the basketball court," a release on the appearance states. After his talk, James will debut a South Beach edition of the LeBron 8. (Previously referred to as the Pre-Heat LeBron 8, the shoe is decidedly South Beach with aqua and pink).

The appearance is scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m. at House of Hoops by Foot Locker at Dadeland Mall, 7535 Dadeland Mall. There will be only limited access to the public while the event with James is occurring.

The non-South Beach edition -- that's red and black -- is scheduled to be released at retail on Oct. 26. The shoe costs $160.

New team, new season, new shoe.

The Nike Air Max LEBRON 8 – Miami Heat forward LeBron James’ newest signature shoe is scheduled to be in stores Oct. 26.

It’s built on a basketball specific Max Air 360 unit, but “is classically crafted and modeled after the shell of a dress shoe,” so says a release describing the shoe.

The black, white and red shoe features a multi-directional herringbone pattern and the lion’s face on the tongue “represents LeBron’s ravenous nature – like that of a hunter on the basketball court. And the numbers 828 are for the 82 regular season NBA games and 28 playoff games.

The shoes cost $160.

The shoe’s design is expected to be adjusted during the season, according to LEBRON 8 designer Jason Petrie. Watch a video of Petrie describing the shoe below. Not sure I’ve ever heard a shoe described so lusciously:

As anticipated and repeatedly reported, former UF quarterback Tim Tebow IS gracing the cover of EA Sports’ NCAA Football 11.

The videogame will be available for Xbox 360 and PlayStation2 and PlayStation3 on July 13. Find out more about the game and watch a video of the cover shoot at ncaafootball11.com.

ESPN shadowed Tebow during the cover shoot. Read the Q&A here.

Meanwhile, Nike announced this week that it has signed a partnership with the NFL hopeful. The deal is reportedly for shoes and apparel, but a Nike press release dated Monday says only “Nike plans to utilize Tebow to assist in elevating the training products and tools the company has developed to build championship athletes.”

A select group of media was invited Wednesday night to Temple House -- at 16,000 square feet, the largest single family home on South Beach -- for the unveiling of Michael Jordan’s newest shoe. We gathered in a white room with a concrete floor, where Jordan Brand logos were projected on white curtains. A video of Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade being interviewed for a spot on the Brand Jordan team was shown and it even poked fun at the spelling of Wade’s first name.

And then, we got to see the Air Jordan 2010. The 25th anniversary shoe in the popular Jordan Brand line is constructed for performance, but also pushes the envelope of design as the brand’s been doing now for more than two decades. Even Michael Jordan seemed a little stunned at the brand's longevity.

This one’s even got a hole – a window, if you will – in the side that allows sneaker fans and shoe aficionados into the Jordan Brand world. But only a little bit. Jordan Brand is calling it the “first see-through performance basketball shoe featuring a unique thermoplastic urethane window.”

That hole gives fans a glimpse into the line, but “doesn’t take away from the performance of the shoe,” Jordan said of the shoe designed by Tinker Hatfield, Nike vice president of special projects/design, and Mark Smith, Jordan Brand creative director. “We want to be trendy, we want to be stylish yet we still want to be a high performance shoe,” Jordan said.

The shoe will be released on Feb. 13 and is expected to retail for $170.

While other NBA players have worn Air Jordans on the court, the 2010 is being released with the idea it will be worn by a current player. Jordan Brand tapped Wade this summer for its elite brand that also includes Derek Jeter, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul. Wade had been the face of Converse for six years, but relished the idea of joining the brand and its already established team. It's expected he will eventually have his own signature shoe in the Jordan Brand line, but for now, he's honored to be heir to Air.

Jordan was asked about Wade being compared with him. He cautioned that he and Wade didn’t play at the same time.

“Two individuals that never played in same era,” Jordan said. “Yes, we’re very, very similar. Yes he has characteristics that I have … Is he Michal Jordan? No. Am I D Wade? No.”

Jordan went on to say his brand had been interested in Wade for years, but the Heat guard was already tied up with Converse. That changed this summer. Both Converse and Jordan Brand are owned by Nike.

“He has similar passions for basketball,” Jordan said of Wade. “I played in Chicago, he grew up in Chicago … I was very happy we had an opportunity to work with him. “

Jordan also said while comparisons are entertaining to debate, they’re not fair given how times have changed.

“I would give my one leg to be able to go out and play with today’s athletes,” he said. “Yeah, I’d love to play with Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James. You sit there and think what if, what if … I didn’t have a chance to play with Jerry West, I’d love to play with Jerry West or Elgin Baylor. And today’s athletes didn’t have a chance to play against myself or Magic Johnson or Larry Bird. That’s just the way things happen … We get caught up in these debates. And we live through them.”

And then he added with a chuckle, “But he is wearing my shoe, I’m not wearing Dwyane Wade’s shoe.”

Chicago Bears wide receiver and former UM star Devin Hester is starring in an ad for Under Armour’s new “Mission” campaign to promote the company’s new UA Fierce cleats.

The fast-paced commercial, which debuts during tonight’s broadcast of the 2009 ESPYs of which Under Armour is a presenting sponsor, is filmed from Hester’s point of view. It’s a day in his life – his waking up, visiting with Deion Sanders, signing autographs at Sports Authority, throwing out the first pitch at Wrigley Field and working out at Soldier Field. At the beginning, it isn’t entirely clear who the viewer is following, but the ad offers clues along the way.

“It’s pretty strange, it’s kind of like a mystery, trying to figure out ‘who is this person? Oh OK, they want to keep it like a little secret and then at the end wow, OK,’” said Hester, who is from Riveria Beach.. “I think this is the first commercial where they [Under Armour] featured just one guy. I’m blessed to be the guy to do it. It was very fun, a great opportunity for me."

It’s also the first campaign in which Hester has held the starring role. He and his mother, Juanita Brown, were in one of those “Mama’s Boys” Campbell’s Chunky Soup ads together with other NFL players and their moms two years ago.

Hester said he enjoyed working with Sanders, whom he’s known since college. “Not only is he my idol, he’s more of a big brother, a role model for me. I look up to him. We text message every day, before I wake up I have a message from him. He sends words of encouragement, things to think about, to be happy for waking up, a big word of encouragement to start off your day,” Hester said.

As for UA’s cleats, Hester says they’re made for swift athletes like him. “The UA Fierce is the lightest they’ve made so far. It’s made for speed for players such as myself. You want to wear the lightest cleats as possible.”

Check out the ad here:

Heat superstar guard Dwyane Wade is joining Nike's Jordan Brand.

Wade, who signed a modest $400,000 deal with Converse as a rookie, is abandoning his deal with Converse, which was set to run through the 2011-12 season. He’s joining Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Derek Jeter, among others, with Team Jordan, the brand named for Michael Jordan.

Wade’s first Converse shoe was released during the 2005-06 season.His signing was viewed as a way to spark the struggling brand, which is also owned by Nike. The Wade 4 was released last season, but Wade wore the Wade 1 on the court. Converse re-released a limited number of the Wade 1 last season.

“For me, the move to Jordan Brand is a dream come true,” Wade said in a statement. “As a kid, I grew up on the south side of Chicago idolizing Michael Jordan and have worked hard to achieve the same success that he’s had on the court. I have enormous respect for this brand and all that it stands for. I’m humbled to be a part of the Team Jordan family and I’m looking forward to a great future.”

The Jordan Brand, which also includes apparel, was launched in 1997.

In honor of Dwyane Wade’s MVP-caliber season and because fans have been asking for it, Converse has reissued a limited number of the Heat guard’s original signature shoe, the Wade 1.

Fewer than 2,400 pairs of the black shoe with the red accents that Wade wears on the court – yes, he’s been wearing it this season, too – have been released and are currently on sale only at Champs Sports, according to Converse. The shoes, which were first launched before the 2005-06 season, are $90.

The shoe features 0.8 (or 8/10ths of a second) on the inner heel to symbolize the time the ball left Wade's hands when he made two game-winning shots during his first two NBA seasons. His No. 3 appears on the shoelace eyelets and his name is on the shoe’s back and top.

But those nifty “MV3” shirts some were sporting at yesterday’s game against the Knicks, in which Wade scored 55 points, aren’t for sale. They were made just to promote Wade’s candidacy for MVP.

Then you’re in luck. In a statement to CNBC Sports Business Reporter Darren Rovell, Converse confirmed it will re-release a limited number of Wade’s first shoe -- the version he wears on the court -- in April.

Rovell gives a full report here on Wade’s newest shoe, the Wade 4 (pictured), which the Heat guard isn’t even wearing this season.

A running theme in Heat guard Dwyane Wade’s life as a basketball player has been disproving his critics. That sentiment comes up again and again in the Heat’s “Something to Prove” television and radio advertising campaign for the 2008-09 season.

Now you’ll see it in an ad for Wade’s new Converse shoe, the Wade 4, that begins airing on Tuesday in conjunction with the $90 shoe’s release. The tagline for the ad is “Wade’s belief is stronger than your doubt.”

In addition, the Wade 4 is all about Wade stepping up his game in the fourth quarter – the last 12 minutes of the game. That’s why there are 12 red chevron stripes on the sole of the shoe. Other details, include the his sons' names -- Zion and Zaire -- on the tongue of each shoe and the date 6/20 on one lace and 2006 on the other to remind him of his MVP performance in the Heat’s 2006 NBA championship.

Watch the ad here:

Heat rookie Michael Beasley confirmed today that he has signed a shoe deal with adidas. The deal was first reported by the SportsBusiness Journal’s Liz Mullen, but Beasley, the No. 2 pick overall, spoke briefly about it this afternoon to reporters, including our Heat beat writer, Ira Winderman.

"It was the best situation for me," Beasley said. "I've been playing in adidas since I was 13 years old. I established a relationship with some of the guys on the staff and financially it was the best situation for me and my family."

Read the rest of Ira’s story here.

Mullen reported that Steven Reed, Beasley’s business manager, said his client agreed to the deal “enthusiastically” because adidas is the brand he’s worn “his whole playing life.”

Clearly Beasley has worn other shoes, including Nike’s Jordan brand. CNBC sports business reporter Darren Rovell looks at why Reed’s comment doesn’t make sense here.

Limited edition items from the much-hyped historic matchup of the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals that begin Thursday night are being made available for sale to fans.

Celtics forward Kevin Garnett and adidas have teamed up to produce a limited edition version of Garnett’s 2008-09 adidas Team Signature Commander Shoe. The KG Commander is to launch in October, but the special edition shoes are being made specifically for the Finals.

Only eight pairs per Finals game will be made available for $1,017 each (in honor of the Celtics going for their 17th championship) at celtics.com; the TD Banknorth Garden Pro Shop and at the NBA Store in Manhattan. The shoes feature the Larry O’Brien Trophy on one side and numbers indicating that particular night’s Finals game on the other.

Meanwhile, the NBA will be auctioning the players’ game-worn jerseys from Finals Games 1 and 3 – giving fans a chance to bid on a home and road jersey for each player. The Game 1 auction will be at NBA.com from June 5-24 and the Game 3 auction from June 10-26. The jerseys will be specially authenticated with coding, tags and security numbers.

Talk about unusual cross-marketing: Reebok is partnering with Kool-Aid for a line of colorful and aromatic shoes. The shoes, branded with both Reebok and Kool-Aid logos, are launching with cherry, grape and strawberry. Other flavors are planned for release later this year.