It’s hard to envision a world without Nike’s Jordan Brand. Michael Jordan is the king of signature sneakers in basketball. None of this exists without the partnership between him and Nike that began in 1984.
Even today, after 35 years, Jordan’s sneakers are still popular. But somehow that almost didn’t happen.
In the latest episode of Kevin Durant’s ESPN series, “The Boardroom,” Jordan’s longtime agent David Falk explained that Jordan didn’t actually like Nike.
“He didn’t want to go,” Falk said. “Didn’t know anything about (Nike). Didn’t like the shoes. Didn’t want to go. The shoe wasn’t that great at the time and Converse was the dominant brand. ... Adidas had everybody else that mattered. And I thought that Nike was the hungriest for Michael — that they needed him the most.”
The Air Jordan sneaker earned Nike $100 million in 1985, according to The New York Times.
Thirty-five years later, Jordan and Nike are worth billions of dollars together and the company is re-releasing Jordan’s first two shoes together — the Air Ship and the first Air Jordan 1.
Funny how that all worked out.
Read more at usatoday.com
