DALLAS _ In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Mars Blackmon, a character played by filmmaker Spike Lee, insisted to an entire generation that "it had to be the shoes."
Appearing in the same massive Nike TV marketing campaign, Michael Jordan proved to the world it wasn't.
But what the television commercials started was a new age of athletic fashion appeal.
To say it was a monumental leap is perhaps stretching the truth a bit.
Three decades later, it's hard to argue that the marketing campaign for athletic shoes became part of mainstream attire.
There's no question Jordan's stardom helped skyrocket the market, and Nike, into uncharted waters.
Today, athletes across the spectrum are part of an endorsement market that, according to Footwear News's Peter Verry, eclipsed $17 billion in U.S. total sales last year.
With Nike, adidas, Puma, New Balance and Under Armour leading the way, when it comes to shoes, the industry is a mix of game and business as competition is fierce for clients. And it's not just basketball. It's in all sports and with everyday people.
