- Nike released the campaign spot for Ja Morant's fourth signature sneaker, the Nike Ja 4 "Nightmare," narrated by Baton Rouge rapper NBA YoungBoy.
- The shoe launches globally on August 13, 2026, for $130.
- A high-top version of the Ja 4, a first for Morant's signature line, is set to arrive during the 2026 holiday season.
- The campaign lands as Morant starts fresh with the Portland Trail Blazers following his June 2026 trade from the Memphis Grizzlies.
Nike has dropped the campaign spot for Ja Morant’s fourth signature sneaker, and the voice behind it belongs to Baton Rouge rapper NBA YoungBoy.
In the commercial, NBA YoungBoy delivers a short voiceover urging fans not to sleep on Ja. The pairing tracks with real life, since Morant’s admiration for NBA YoungBoy spans years, with the star frequently rapping his songs, attending his concerts, and supporting his music.
The Ja 4 carries over Morant’s hallmark vertical Swoosh and pairs it with a lightweight TPU frame built to keep players secure as they cut and shift.
The launch continues a Nike partnership that dates back to Morant’s multiyear footwear deal, signed before the 2019 NBA Draft, after which he became Nike Basketball’s first Gen Z signature athlete.
The line has since grown through the Ja 1’s 2022 debut, the Ja 3’s playful Kool-Aid crossover, and five colorways Morant teased ahead of this launch.
The rollout also marks a fresh chapter for Morant, who was traded from the Memphis Grizzlies to the Portland Trail Blazers this summer ahead of the 2026–27 season.
Off the sneaker court, his endorsement portfolio includes Beats By Dre, which he signed with in 2022, and BODYARMOR, where he’s been a brand ambassador since 2020.
Nike’s basketball signature roster now spans LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Sabrina Ionescu and A’ja Wilson, with a Cade Cunningham shoe still to come.
Takeaways
Tapping NBA YoungBoy instead of a generic ad voice shows Nike leaning into who Morant actually is, not a manufactured celebrity pairing; that authenticity is doing real marketing work here.
The first-ever high-top Ja 4 also signals Nike wants the line to reach players who skipped past low-top models. And timing all of it to Morant’s Portland reset turns “don’t sleep on Ja” from a tagline into something closer to a statement of intent.
Does pairing Morant with NBA YoungBoy build more credibility for the shoe than a traditional celebrity spot would? Is Nike betting on Morant the person, or Morant the fresh start in Portland?
