For Nike, Jordan delivered the goods and more

[lefty]

For Nike, Jordan delivered the goods and more

By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports 9 hours, 11 minutes ago





<DIV class=bd><DIV id=copy><DIV class="body_copy 0">
<DIV style="PADDING-LEFT: 20px; FLOAT: right; PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px; WIDTH: 250px; PADDING-TOP: 10px"> Nike officials weren’t initially sold on whether to market a shoe around Michael Jordan. </P> The original Air Jordan shoes became an instant hit when they were released in 1985.

(NBAE/ Getty)

More than that, Jordan hadn’t displayed much of a personality. Carolina was a program that kept its players under wraps, this was no Barkley. Besides, no one knew him. Carolina was a Converse school; Nike had no entrée. Even Vaccaro had never spoken to Jordan, a rarity since Sonny had met nearly every great young player while operating the Dapper Dan Roundball Classic, the first national high school all-star game. Jordan, somewhat of a late bloomer in high school, hadn’t been invited to the tournament his senior year.

There were other concerns. In 1984, there were almost no breakout black stars in America. Michael Jackson was just beginning his stratospheric run. “The Cosby Show” wouldn’t premiere until later that year. The idea of having a young black man sell shoes to white America was absurd. Let alone a young black man no one had ever met.

“The risk,” Vaccaro recalled this week, “was enormous.”

So Strasser leaned in and took a hard, long look at Vaccaro.

“Sonny, if you’re so sure about Michael Jordan, are you willing to bet your job on it?”

Vaccaro didn’t hesitate.

“Yeah,” Vaccaro said, neglecting to mention he wasn’t making all that much money anyway.

It didn’t matter. The decision was essentially made.






So why was Vaccaro so convinced about Michael Jordan? Why did he feel so confident about a decision that even Jordan has since said surprised him? To Jordan, the idea of a signature shoe just didn’t seem possible at the time.

“I wish I could give you something,” Vaccaro said. “I just knew he was the guy.”

Two years prior, Vaccaro had watched Jordan calmly sink a national le-winning jump shot. The shot was remarkable not just because Jordan made it, but also because Dean Smith had called on a freshman to take it rather than his veteran All-Americans, James Worthy and Sam Perkins.

There was also the way Jordan carried himself, the fact his game was so enticing for young players (kids dream of being slashers, not centers) and that now-famous, mega-watt smile he wore while playing. The guy just looked likeable.

Whatever it was, Vaccaro was right. He later built Adidas basketball by gambling on a confident teenager named Kobe Bryant(notes) and by striking an endorsement deal with a Catholic high school in Ohio that featured a 15-year-old named LeBron James(notes).

Turns out, Vaccaro wasn’t a one-hit wonder when he picked Jordan out of the crowd.





<DIV style="PADDING-LEFT: 20px; FLOAT: right; PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px; WIDTH: 300px; PADDING-TOP: 10px"> Thanks, in part, to Michael Jordan, Nike’s revenue jumped from $900 million to $9.2 billion in 13 years.

[Culburn369]

Then MJ ed up...and the missus walked away with half, + a $1.

tee, hee.

[DJB]

Those kicks are so sick.

[The Franchise]

Where would Nike be without Jordan? Possibly bankrupt? They were a third rate shoe company before he came along. Jordan himself said he would rather have gotten a shoe deal from Adidas but they turned him down (hindsight is a !!). Strasser should thank his God everyday he chose to listened to his subordinate.