"Second Generation"[a] is a 2006 television advertisement introducing Nike's Air Jordan XXI brand of basketball shoes.

[3] The ad depicts signature moves from Michael Jordan's NBA career, recreated in the present day by twelve young basketball players around the world.

Advertising publications gave favorable reviews to "Second Generation", although it did not win major awards.

"[7] Some 350 young basketball players auditioned over eight days; Beletic recalls the process as "an absurd amount of casting".

[6] Casting was also complicated by the amateurism rules of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA): anyone who might play college basketball in the future couldn't appear in the ad.

[5][7] The action is set in the present day, across the world; various scenes take place in Africa, China, Chicago, and New York City.

[6] Each scene is a few seconds long, depicting a young basketball player recreating a famous Jordan moment in slow motion.

He recreates a moment from the 1991 NBA Finals, game 2: Jordan scored a layup after switching hands in midair to avoid Sam Perkins of the Los Angeles Lakers.

[1] The music starts growing in complexity, adding violins and a new bass line as a piano takes over the ostinato.

The moment is from the 1989 NBA Playoffs, when Jordan hit a game-winning jump shot over Cleveland Cavaliers guard Craig Ehlo.

[1][5] At 0:38 is Jordan's last shot with the Chicago Bulls, after a crossover dribble past Utah Jazz guard Bryon Russell at the end of Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals.

It resumes at a calmer level as the camera shows Jordan in street clothes, watching from the sideline.

Waterbury said of this shot, "We wanted to make sure that, through this commercial, people understood Michael's role as a mentor and a coach.