MJ's 'Be Like Mike' spot almost didn't happen due to jingle dispute

The man behind the jingle featured in Michael Jordan's iconic "Be Like Mike" Gatorade ad says the spot was almost shelved due to licensing issues.

Ira Antelis, who composed the jingle, told Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson on the "Scoop B Radio Podcast" that the original idea for the 1992 commercial was to use a song from Disney's "The Jungle Book."

"It's been really great retelling the story because it almost never happened; because I think that I had mentioned, this is before music licensing really came into play in commercials," Antelis said. "But they wanted to use the song that Disney owned from 'The Jungle Book' called 'I Wanna Be Like You' and it sort of like a done deal and from what I gathered, at the last minute Disney raised the price and they’re like, 'Give us $350,000 for five weeks to use the song.' And the people at Gatorade said no.

"And so we get the call on Thursday, the commercial's got to be on the air on Monday, and we wrote it and the rest is sort of like history because it really took off."

Earlier this month, Gatorade unveiled a remake of the "Be Like Mike" spot starring New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson, two-time WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne, and Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics.

The company said it hopes the new commercial "inspires new generations of athletes to be like Mike ... then, now, and forever."