Anti-Redskins ad airs during Heat-Spurs Game 3 (VIDEO)

A northern California tribe of Native Americans  paid for a commercial which aired in seven major U.S. cities during halftime of Tuesday's NBA Finals game. 

The powerful 60-second spot was aimed at sending its message directly to the Washington Redskins.

The video, which initially appeared online in time for the Super Bowl, was the most visible of the group's pleas for the NFL team to change its “racist” name and mascot.

“In my opinion, the ‘r’ word is just as derogatory a slur as the ‘n’ word,” Marshall McKay, chairman of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, said in a video about the “Change the Mascot” campaign.

The commercial, called “Proud to Be,” is a shortened version of a similar ad that was posted online earlier this year. In it, a narrator lists adjectives that could describe Native Americans — “Indian,” “Navajo, “Sioux,” "Spiritualist,” “strong” — before the camera zooms in on a Redskins helmet, “the one thing they don’t” call themselves.

Here's the long version:

The ad, which premiered Sunday night in Miami during Game 2 of the NBA finals, was slated to play in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Sacramento, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. during the Game 3 broadcast.

The tribe wouldn’t say how much it paid for the prime TV spot, except that it was a “substantial” amount.

The video was produced by the agency goodness Mfg., in association with the National Congress of American Indians.

Despite a burgeoning effort to change their team name, the Washington Redskins have refused to budge. Redskins President Bruce Allen recently wrote a letter to senators stating the team “has always been respectful of and shown reverence toward the proud legacy and traditions of Native Americans.”