Yall know Michael Jordan made Nike matter and not the other way around
- Thread starter Ghpstface
- Start date
superunknown23
Superstar
MJ originally wanted to sign for Adidas (a bigger brand at the time)...
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Ethnic Vagina Finder
The Great Paper Chaser
Nike was still in its infancy when they signed Jordan. Jordan got them into the basketball shoes market. This isn't even up for debate.
And threads like these make me realize just how
I really am
And threads like these make me realize just how
I really am
superunknown23
Superstar
knickscrusaderm
lead by example
Phantom fouls.
I'm 38 and remember this hype like it was yesterday. If anything, I remember being cool amongst basketball fans(remember the NBA wasn't as big at that time) and black people from certain movies and shows initially. I'm talking 1s and 2s. Nike really blew up around 87. After that Revolution commercial with the Beatles song during the Cosby Show(number 1 show at the time with crazy ratings shows just don't get anymore), it seemed like they blew up. Air Max, Air Trainer(Bo Jackson), Air Revolution, Air Force III and Jordan III all in that calendar year just blew up. A lot of colleges started going Air Force III or Air Alpha Force. By the time you got to Jordan IVs it seemed like Nike had blown up and just got bigger and bigger with more lines. Jordan blew them up into something untouchable, but they would have still been on an upward trajectory as long as he wasn't Air Jordaning at another company. Non-Jordan Nikes were it in every sport, including basketball. If you weren't there to watch and live Jordan blow up its just hard to describe. There was no social media, and basketball wasn't on TV that much nationally until TNT/TBS got involved in like '89 or if your cable had WGN, which still wasn't much. So you had that and CBS weekend games and playoffs. So there was a huge mystique for most of the country until the playoffs or All-Star game or when your team played him. His shoes blew up in that same sort of hype. It was like he had fancier, badassier shoes in a time where most players wore the same 3 or 4 shoes with a few Brooks and Avias in there. When those Mars Blackmon commercials hit, that was like feeding the needy to see the shoes before the IIIs came out. And when he came out with a different swagger than everyone else and just improved every year, the legend just blew up. It could be even concluded the NBA blew up as far as television goes with Jordan as well. The coverage definitely increased as everything Jordan increased. It was just the perfect time for all of it to happen and it was a beautiful, pre-internet gradual buildup. Nike was blowing up in the same space and time. So, Bo was big, but not on the MJ level and not before. Yes, Nike was blowing up regardless of Jordans, and it was like a rapid rise. So I wouldn't say he made them, but he blew them up to untouchable proportions and they rose together. You simply can't have the same kind of just enough media attention to wet the appetite while seeing something we've never seen before type rise. That's where we were in technological, media and even basketball history.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but these came out before the 1st J's. Saying this to say, Nike was on their way.
People keep saying Kanye but Pharrell is the one moving units for them.
NYC Rebel
...on the otherside of the pond
As a niqqa who wore rejects as a kid, first time I wore Nikes in 3rd grade, Pre Mike, was a big deal.Nike was still in its infancy when they signed Jordan. Jordan got them into the basketball shoes market. This isn't even up for debate.
And threads like these make me realize just how
Nah...Nike was there before MJ
superunknown23
Superstar
Nike was bigger in track & field. Carl Lewis rocked them at the 1984 Olympics.As a niqqa who wore rejects as a kid, first time I wore Nikes in 3rd grade, Pre Mike, was a big deal.
Nah...Nike was there before MJ
Signing MJ brought them into the basketball field, which was dominated by Converse and Adidas at the time.
NYC Rebel
...on the otherside of the pond
This is true. My first pair of Nikes were thr yellow on blue "milkshake" Nikes. It was a key moment in that African boy graduating from rejects to Nikes.
superunknown23
Superstar
My first pair of Nikes... I was happy as a mothafukkaThis is true. My first pair of Nikes were thr yellow on blue "milkshake" Nikes. It was a key moment in that African boy graduating from rejects to Nikes.
You can't say anybody could've done what Nike did though when adidas and Converse easily could have had the opportunity but didn't take it. It's a combination. You need the star, but you also need a brand with a vision. Like I said earlier, if it was just about a star then somebody would've struck gold earlier with Magic, because he was always much more marketable than Jordan anyway, there was just no one ready to take those chances then.
Adidas was clearly the urban "it" shoe at the time. Jordan rocked the Forums in the olympics. Adidas at the time>>>>>Nike. Adidas fukked up, plain and simple. If you look throughout the history of companies, there is always some bad moves here and there.