The story of the Nike Air Jordan 1 is complex and full of intricate details. Every passing year, the legend of the man that made the Air Jordan 1 famous becomes larger and more fantastic. As sneaker culture continues to flourish, becoming a multi-billion-dollar worldwide phenomenon, it’s worth taking a look back at how a fairly simple sneaker made of red, white, and black leather influenced everything from the game of basketball to fashion and modern-day marketing.
In 1984, the Chicago Bulls selected Michael Jordan as the third overall pick in the NBA Draft. Big men Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets) and Sam Bowie (Portland Trail Blazers) were selected before Jordan, mainly because teams back then prioritized centers more than guards. The New York Times didn’t even mention college player of the year Jordan until near the end of its draft report.
Although Jordan wasn’t top pick, the Bulls were still confident enough in his abilities to sign him to a seven-year, $6 million deal — the third-largest rookie contract in league history at the time behind Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson.
While contract negotiations were progressing with the Bulls, Nike was working on its own deal with Jordan. There were several key people involved in the negotiations. The story is complex and much-disputed, but as told by Sonny Vaccaro, a shady marketing agent who signed up college basketball coaches to Nike, he convinced Swoosh marketing director Rob Strasser that Jordan was worth signing at any cost.
Among the others involved were Nike designer Peter Moore, who came up with the Air Jordan 1 sneaker design and “Wings” logo (he also gave us the Nike Dunk), Donald Dell, who was president of sports management firm ProServ, and Jordan’s agent David Falk, who negotiated the Nike deal and worked for ProServ.
Dell was a former tennis pro, and tennis players were marketed much better than basketball stars at the time. The ProServ chief had overseen the successful marketing of tennis stars such as Stan Smith and Arthur Ashe, and his goal was to showcase Jordan in the same way.
The negotiation process was far from easy, as Falk was demanding a lot from whichever brand wanted to sign the young phenom. Jordan loved adidas and wanted to sign with the German giant, but the company was in a state of flux after founder Adi Dassler’s death in 1978 and let Jordan slip through its fingers.
Converse was in the mix as well, with Jordan having worn the Boston brand’s shoes throughout college due to the deal North Carolina coach Dean Smith (pictured with Jordan at a press conference above) had with the company. Converse was prepared to market Jordan alongside its other stars Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, but was offering nothing new in terms of footwear ideas.
Jordan had no interest in Nike and practically had to be dragged to the company’s presentation in Beaverton, Oregon. But the Swoosh had the biggest and boldest plan to differentiate Jordan from the rest of the league’s stars. Jordan had preferred adidas because its shoes were lower to the ground than Nike’s. Now Nike was offering an all-new shoe tailored to his needs. It would even go on to accommodate his different-sized feet (left, size 13; right, size 13.5).
The story of the Nike Air Jordan 1 is complex and full of intricate details. Every passing year, the legend of the man that made the Air Jordan 1 famous becomes larger and more fantastic. As sneaker culture continues to flourish, becoming a multi-billion-dollar worldwide phenomenon, it’s worth taking a look back at how a fairly simple sneaker made of red, white, and black leather influenced everything from the game of basketball to fashion and modern-day marketing.
In 1984, the Chicago Bulls selected Michael Jordan as the third overall pick in the NBA Draft. Big men Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets) and Sam Bowie (Portland Trail Blazers) were selected before Jordan, mainly because teams back then prioritized centers more than guards. The New York Times didn’t even mention college player of the year Jordan until near the end of its draft report.
Although Jordan wasn’t top pick, the Bulls were still confident enough in his abilities to sign him to a seven-year, $6 million deal — the third-largest rookie contract in league history at the time behind Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson.
While contract negotiations were progressing with the Bulls, Nike was working on its own deal with Jordan. There were several key people involved in the negotiations. The story is complex and much-disputed, but as told by Sonny Vaccaro, a shady marketing agent who signed up college basketball coaches to Nike, he convinced Swoosh marketing director Rob Strasser that Jordan was worth signing at any cost.
Among the others involved were Nike designer Peter Moore, who came up with the Air Jordan 1 sneaker design and “Wings” logo (he also gave us the Nike Dunk), Donald Dell, who was president of sports management firm ProServ, and Jordan’s agent David Falk, who negotiated the Nike deal and worked for ProServ.
Dell was a former tennis pro, and tennis players were marketed much better than basketball stars at the time. The ProServ chief had overseen the successful marketing of tennis stars such as Stan Smith and Arthur Ashe, and his goal was to showcase Jordan in the same way.
The negotiation process was far from easy, as Falk was demanding a lot from whichever brand wanted to sign the young phenom. Jordan loved adidas and wanted to sign with the German giant, but the company was in a state of flux after founder Adi Dassler’s death in 1978 and let Jordan slip through its fingers.
Converse was in the mix as well, with Jordan having worn the Boston brand’s shoes throughout college due to the deal North Carolina coach Dean Smith (pictured with Jordan at a press conference above) had with the company. Converse was prepared to market Jordan alongside its other stars Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, but was offering nothing new in terms of footwear ideas.
Jordan had no interest in Nike and practically had to be dragged to the company’s presentation in Beaverton, Oregon. But the Swoosh had the biggest and boldest plan to differentiate Jordan from the rest of the league’s stars. Jordan had preferred adidas because its shoes were lower to the ground than Nike’s. Now Nike was offering an all-new shoe tailored to his needs. It would even go on to accommodate his different-sized feet (left, size 13; right, size 13.5).
The story of the Nike Air Jordan 1 is complex and full of intricate details. Every passing year, the legend of the man that made the Air Jordan 1 famous becomes larger and more fantastic. As sneaker culture continues to flourish, becoming a multi-billion-dollar worldwide phenomenon, it’s worth taking a look back at how a fairly simple sneaker made of red, white, and black leather influenced everything from the game of basketball to fashion and modern-day marketing.
In 1984, the Chicago Bulls selected Michael Jordan as the third overall pick in the NBA Draft. Big men Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets) and Sam Bowie (Portland Trail Blazers) were selected before Jordan, mainly because teams back then prioritized centers more than guards. The New York Times didn’t even mention college player of the year Jordan until near the end of its draft report.
Although Jordan wasn’t top pick, the Bulls were still confident enough in his abilities to sign him to a seven-year, $6 million deal — the third-largest rookie contract in league history at the time behind Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson.
While contract negotiations were progressing with the Bulls, Nike was working on its own deal with Jordan. There were several key people involved in the negotiations. The story is complex and much-disputed, but as told by Sonny Vaccaro, a shady marketing agent who signed up college basketball coaches to Nike, he convinced Swoosh marketing director Rob Strasser that Jordan was worth signing at any cost.
Among the others involved were Nike designer Peter Moore, who came up with the Air Jordan 1 sneaker design and “Wings” logo (he also gave us the Nike Dunk), Donald Dell, who was president of sports management firm ProServ, and Jordan’s agent David Falk, who negotiated the Nike deal and worked for ProServ.
Although Jordan wasn’t top pick, the Bulls were still confident enough in his abilities to sign him to a seven-year, $6 million deal — the third-largest rookie contract in league history at the time behind Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson.
While contract negotiations were progressing with the Bulls, Nike was working on its own deal with Jordan. There were several key people involved in the negotiations. The story is complex and much-disputed, but as told by Sonny Vaccaro, a shady marketing agent who signed up college basketball coaches to Nike, he convinced Swoosh marketing director Rob Strasser that Jordan was worth signing at any cost.
Among the others involved were Nike designer Peter Moore, who came up with the Air Jordan 1 sneaker design and “Wings” logo (he also gave us the Nike Dunk), Donald Dell, who was president of sports management firm ProServ, and Jordan’s agent David Falk, who negotiated the Nike deal and worked for ProServ.
