Nike has shelved a US advertising campaign which digitally altered the skin colour of Sacramento Kings basketball player Jason Williams from white to black. The embarrassing decision to halt the advertisement follows a $15,000 fine Williams received for racially abusing Asian fans at a game with Golden State Warriors.

The company claimed the decision to shelve the advertisement was taken before the controversy. But Nike admitted that it had given consideration to dropping Williams from its roster of endorsers following the fine.

Instead Williams will form the focus of Nike's Freestyle campaign, which features a number of amateur and professional male and female basketball players showing off their ballhandling skills.

The 2.5 minute commercial is shot like a music video with the `music' provided by the sound of squeaking runners and bouncing balls. The advertisement is being screened on MTV, but a Nike spokesman said the company will not be paying MTV to air it. The spokesman said the companies had an "internal arrangement on the matter".

With falling attendance figures and reduced television audiences since the retirement of Michael Jordan, the National Basketball Association (NBA) has been eager to talk up flashy players like Williams.

His number 55 jersey is the most popular item in NBA's merchandise. Sales were boosted immeasurably by his clever move during a rookie challenge game last year, when he faked a behind-the-back pass and instead passed the ball with his elbow to an open teammate. Repeated in slow motion on all the major stations, it raised his profile considerably.

But Williams is not a clean-living, smart-dressing hero like Jordan. Besides his playing limitations -- his defence is a major concern -- he refuses to wear a suit to league games. Instead he wears the jersey of former high school team mate Randy Moss, who plays American football with the Minnesota Vikings and is set to become the sport's highest paid player when his contract expires.

Williams also sports several tattoos, including the letters W-H-I-T-E-B-O-Y on his knuckles (how this fitted into the Nike commercial is unknown). He has been suspended in the past for smoking cannabis and for failing to comply with the terms of the NBA's drug after-care programme.

An African-American woman in the Kings' PR office nicknamed him "White Chocolate" and it has come to typify the debate about him.

"People think I'm trying to be black," he said. "But I just want to be me. I just play ball. I'd like to meet the man who said there's a black game and a white game. That's crazy."

Yet Williams has always felt more comfortable around African-Americans. Growing up in a trailer in a small town in West Virginia, he would travel with Moss to a nearby town to play ball. The only Kings player he really opens up to is Chris Webber, who is also African-American, and together they have played a key role in turning the Kings into a basketball force.

As a marketable personality, however, Williams is one of Nike's best options, and has assumed even greater importance after Adidas' move to sign up young players with significant potential.

With less problems off-court and more discipline on it, Williams could yet be the perfect vehicle for Nike.