Today, Michael Jordan and Air Jordan are virtually inseparable. The brand generates billions of dollars in annual revenue, making it one of the most successful athlete partnerships ever created. But in 1984, the deal almost didn’t happen. Jordan’s preferred choice was Adidas, while Converse dominated the NBA with stars like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Nike, by comparison, was still trying to establish itself as a serious basketball brand and wasn’t Jordan’s first choice.

According to former Nike basketball executive Sonny Vaccaro, Jordan was reluctant to even attend Nike’s presentation. It was his parents—particularly his mother, Deloris Jordan—who encouraged him to hear the company’s proposal before making a decision. That meeting proved to be one of the most important in sports business history.

Instead of offering Jordan a standard endorsement contract, Nike proposed something almost unheard of at the time: a signature shoe line built entirely around one rookie player. The company believed Jordan had the potential to become much more than an athlete—he could become a global brand. They offered him a deal reportedly worth $2.5 million over five years, along with royalty payments tied to shoe sales, a structure that was revolutionary for a young NBA player entering the league.

When the first Air Jordan 1 was released in 1985, it quickly became a sensation. The shoe’s bold black-and-red design generated enormous attention, helped by the NBA’s uniform rules, which led to the widespread belief that the league had “banned” the shoes—a story Nike cleverly used in its marketing.