NBA Archives Debunked: The Jordan Saga

Chapter 13 Nike (2)

So, when Nike needed to decide which rookie to sign, Vaccaro had no doubts: sign Jordan! In early 1984, at Nike's internal decision-making meeting, Vaccaro tried his best to push Jordan.According to Vaccaro's judgment, Olajuwon's draft pick will indeed be a little higher, but he is a Nigerian, he has just learned to play basketball, and his English is not good enough; in terms of personal charm, the only one who can compare with Jordan, Only the fat little guy from Auburn, Charles Barkley, and no one else.

Because this is an extremely important company decision, Vaccaro was asked at one point: Would you like to bet your entire career at Nike on the decision to sign Jordan?Vaccaro: Absolutely.So, if you have two options, one is to sign ten players for $5, and the other is to sign one player for $50, would you still be willing to sign that one player?Vaccaro said: Absolutely, if that player is Michael Jordan.

Seeing Vaccaro's determination, Nike executives decided to find Jordan.

Nike has identified Jordan, but Jordan is by no means perfect for Nike, because he doesn't like Nike shoes at all.In North Carolina, Jordan has been wearing Converse, which is a partnership between Converse and Dean Smith, and has nothing to do with Jordan.Jordan himself has liked Adidas since high school, he hopes to sign a contract with Adidas, and he is willing to endorse Adidas.

Nike and Falk are kindred spirits.Nike executive Rob Strasser, who is in charge of player signings, has maintained a good working relationship with Falk.Falk would tell Strasser directly how much he would need to make a certain player in his hands wear Nikes, and then Strasser would figure out how to do it.Most of Falk's clients have committed to Nike, including Bernard King, Phil Ford and Moses Malone.

In the summer of 1984, during the Los Angeles Olympics, Rob Strasser and designer Peter Moore traveled to Washington to meet Falk.Falk's mind was full of ideas, and the two sides had a good talk.Falk hoped that Jordan would have its own exclusive sub-brand, and Strasser agreed, and both parties liked the brand name proposed by Falk, called "Air Jordan" (Jordan).Moore immediately sketched out a brand logo, a basketball with flapping wings, which he later updated with the now-familiar silhouette of Jordan flying with his legs outstretched for a dunk.By the end of that meeting, everyone was happy with where they were headed together.

The problem is, "everyone" doesn't include Jordan.

After the Olympics, Jordan told Falk: I'm tired, I need to rest, I'm not interested in going to the Nike headquarters in Portland, and I'm not interested in signing with Nike. "Do what you need to do," Jordan said, "and get me signed with Adidas."

Like most players at that time, the 21-year-old Jordan felt that a sneaker contract was just a sneaker contract. Choose a brand you like, earn some endorsement fees from them, and then have many free shoes to get, so you can use it What a face to give those shoes to friends.

He hasn't figured it out yet. The sneaker contract is an important part of the player's selling himself. He can earn more money from commercial endorsements than the player's salary, far more than the petty profit of giving a few pairs of shoes to a friend.

Of course, I didn't want to understand it. It's not Jordan's fault, because at that time, no one fully understood this, and even Falk was not sure how much money it would be.

Falk had only met Jordan a few times at that time, and he didn't know Jordan well enough. Of course, he didn't want to destroy the cooperative relationship with Jordan.Jordan wasn't happy to go to Portland, so Falk had to call Jordan's parents and tell them he needed their son to be present at Nike's presentation.

In the end, it was Delores Jordan who gave her son instructions: Your dad and I must be on that flight to Portland, and you, preferably, are on it too.

In order to welcome Jordan's arrival, Nike specially produced a video, cutting together the highlights of Jordan University and the Los Angeles Olympics, accompanied by the song Jump of "The Pointer Sisters" (the Pointer Sisters), and played it for the Jordan family.Moore briefly introduced the design of the sneakers. The shoes are colored instead of the common white at that time.Among the sketches shown, there was one on which the shoes were painted red and black. Jordan pointed to the picture and said, "I can't wear those shoes. It's the color of the devil." Strasser said: "Michael , unless you can get the Chicago Bulls to change their color to North Carolina blue, that's your color."

The first part of the meeting ended, and everyone went to the huge Nike flagship store, which was like the largest toy store in the world, full of all kinds of sports equipment.The Nike people told Jordan: Go in and take a look, take whatever you want, take as much as you can, and put it all in your car.As a result, Jordan came out with six bags.

Vaccaro suggested, why don't you give Jordan something real.Strasser took the words: I know Jordan likes cars, why don't we give him a car.Falke just turned his head to look back at this time, and found that the president of Nike, Phil Knight, was ashen-faced and was holding his chest with his hand. "I thought Phil was going to have a heart attack," Falk later laughed.

Strasser took his time and gave Jordan a Porsche toy car.It turned out that this was a well-designed joke by him.But Strasser immediately added: You're going to make enough money to buy all the cars you want.

Moore noticed that Jordan's parents had been completely conquered by Nike.Strasser's enthusiasm and Nike's emphasis on Jordan have made them extremely useful.However, Jordan's own thoughts are still difficult to judge.During the meeting, he sat with his parents and Falk, without showing any emotion from the beginning to the end, and there was no expression on his face.Falk was also secretly surprised. It is said that Nike has shown full sincerity. Why does Jordan seem completely unmoved?

It wasn't until the end of a crucial meeting that Jordan just walked out and turned to Falk and said, "Let's sign the contract!"

Falk's eyes widened: "But you didn't even smile once, and you didn't show any enthusiasm."

"I just put on my business face," Jordan said.

Everyone went out to eat that night, and Nike picked a popular downtown restaurant.They walked in and were about to go downstairs when a nearby customer recognized Jordan and stared at him.Jordan realized that he was recognized, and responded with a very natural smile.Moore saw this scene from the side, and immediately appreciated the contagious power of Jordan's smile.The customers who recognized him belonged to the upper-middle class in Portland, and they were all white. When Jordan smiled at them, all the boundaries of skin color and race disappeared without a trace.

After seeing off the Jordan family after dinner, Strasser asked Moore: Do you think we can take Jordan?Moore replied: "I think we can. They seem to be very comfortable with us." Then Moore added: "If we get him, I think we will get something really special. There is a personality, I used to Never seen it in any athlete."

Following Vaccaro's suggestion, Nike offered Jordan a five-year contract worth $50 a year.This was an unbelievable sky-high price at that time.In addition, Jordan can also get Nike's annual dividends and commissions on basketball-related products.According to Falke's calculations, Jordan could earn about $700 million in total during those five years.

In order to protect the interests of the company, Nike added such a clause to Jordan's contract: the best rookie, the All-Star, and an average of 20 points per game. If Jordan fails to complete any of the three goals in the first three years, the contract will be terminated two years in advance. .Falk asked: "What if he can't do all three, but he can still sell shoes?" Nike's answer is: If Jordan can sell shoes worth $400 million in the third year, the last two years of the contract will remain the same. implement.

After learning the details of the Nike contract, Jordan made one last personal effort.Unbeknownst to anyone, he had a conversation with Adidas rep Bill Sweek.Jordan told Swick that Nike's contract offer was so-and-so, "As long as you can offer a similar contract, I will sign with you."However, from beginning to end, Adidas did not offer any offer to Jordan, and Jordan was extremely disappointed.In fact, it's not that Adidas looks down on Jordan and thinks that Jordan is not worth so much money, but because the internal disputes in the boss's family disrupted negotiations and decision-making.

At the same time, Falk also arranged a meeting with Converse.Jordan didn't want to go to Converse headquarters either, but because of Dean Smith, he went anyway.

During the talks, Converse has been emphasizing that "we are basketball".Joe Dean, who was in charge of marketing for Converse at the time, said: "Our company has 63 employees who are over 6 feet 6 inches tall. We hire ex-basketball players exclusively. Basketball makes up our company culture; ’, Bird, ‘Dr. J’, Isaiah, all these top basketball players spoke for us.

Farke thought: They don't know what they're talking about. All they want to say is, we're a big company, we have the best players, we don't need to be creative, we don't need to do new things. Actually don't need you.

Jordan asked: Converse already has so many basketball stars, where will I be placed?Converse president John O'Neil (John O'Neil) answered the question: "We will treat you like any other superstar." This basically means that Converse can pay Jordan about $10 a year in endorsement fees, and " Magician", Bird, and "Dr. J" are treated the same.

Falke was sick of it, and James Jordan felt the same way.Old Jordan participated in the negotiation, and he couldn't help but raised his head and asked, "Don't you have any fresh and creative ideas?"

Deathly silence.

Joe Dean said later that Converse was also in a dilemma at the time, "If we give Michael more, what should we do with "Magician", Bird and "Dr. J"?"
Nike finally got Jordan as it wished.Their contract with Jordan is a major breakthrough in the sports and entertainment industry in terms of commercial endorsements.

After signing, Jordan returned to Chapel Hill and told Buzz Peterson that Nike was going to name a shoe after him.Peterson didn't believe it. He felt that Jordan was swollen and had started to think wildly.Jordan insisted: No, they really plan to use my name to name a sneaker.Still unconvinced, Peterson argued with Jordan, "Michael, they don't name their sneakers after Larry Bird and 'Magic' Johnson, and they're NBA stars. You're not even the No. [-] pick in this draft." One was picked out." It wasn't until Air Jordan hit the market that Peterson couldn't believe it.

Jordan told his friends: If you have money on hand, it shouldn't be a bad idea to buy some Nike stock.

Nike stock, in November 1984, was $11 per share, and by July 7, it was $1998.

(End of this chapter)