With NBA teams from New York to Los Angeles offering small fortunes for his services, LeBron James had the basketball world at his command earlier this year.

But with the NBA season starting this week, the young phenom is viewed as a villain by most basketball fans outside of Miami, where he decided to join the Miami Heat.

LeBron isn't talking his newfound status as NBA bad guy lying down.

In a stylish new Nike ad, LeBron hits back at his critics with the frequent refrain "What Should I Do?" and in the process takes a swipe at two NBA icons Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley.

The jab at Jordan is subtle, with LeBron standing at a podium in an empty banquet hall with the banner "Hall of Fame" hanging over his head. The scene is believed to poke fun at Jordan's poorly received NBA Hall of Fame acceptance speech that was filled with petty digs at fellow players.

The swipe at Barkley, who has rightfully criticized LeBron's handling of his free agency campaign, was far from veiled.

With a wink and the words "Hi Chuck!" LeBron takes a bite of a donut - no doubt a dig at the rotund Barkley.

Instead of taking shots at Jordan and Barkley, LeBron should have stayed with the idea that underpins the commercial -- that he is a grown man and has the right to do whatever he wants to with his career.

LeBron no doubt has been stung by the criticism he has received. But he deserved it all.

If he wanted to go to Miami, that's fine. But to string along the fans of Cleveland, where LeBron plied his trade for the past seven years, and keep them waiting in vain was cruel. And to make his announcement on a special television show turned the knife in the backs of Cleveland fans.

LeBron's new ad is slick and very watchable. But like many of his shots in last year's NBA Eastern Conference semi-finals, he misses the mark.

LeBron has the right to move to Miami. But why not show some class and compassion on the way out of Cleveland?

Watch it here: