With “Air” coming out soon in theaters, sneakers’ history has never been as attractive to people as today. Mysteries and secrets in this universe are numerous, and Nike is not the only brand to have some. However, Nike has an incredible success story and some genius moves to tell through movies and series.
And one of these stories comes right after the “Air” story when Michael Jordan was already signed by Nike and started to play with Air Jordans on his feet on NBA courts with the Chicago Bulls. This story implies a surprising fact, the Air Jordan 1, in its original Bred colorway, was forbidden.
A Letter From Nike
In 1984, everybody was wearing all-white shoes on basketball courts. It was the rule. However, Nike, forever known as the rebel brand, decided to go against this by designing black and red shoes. They wanted to be the first to do it to show how Michael Jordan was unique. They wanted him to be the precursor, the first player ever to wear these colors on a basketball court. These colors are also an obvious tribute to the away jersey of the Chicago Bulls.
But when Michael Jordan entered the court with the awaited Air Jordan 1 Bred, the Bulls received a letter written by David Stern, the NBA commissioner, telling them that Michael Jordan was forbidden to wear that shoe and that if he went against that ban, he would pay 5000 dollars per game to wear them. Why? Again, because the shoes are not white, a minimum of white was necessary for a basketball shoe to be accepted on the NBA court. Fortunately, Nike also had the Air Jordan 1 Chicago to replace it, and this one was compliant with the rules. But what would they do with all those unsold Air Jordan 1 Breds?
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They opted for a great marketing campaign: The NBA has forbidden Michael Jordan to wear these sneakers, but you, you can wear them. Can you imagine how much hype it brought at that time? Of course, they would sell hundreds of thousands of shoes with this. Michael Jordan cannot wear a pair you can wear. It’s even better than just wearing the same sneakers as MJ. These banned sneakers were seen as support from the fans of Michael Jordan. It created a unique link between the player and the fans. Well, that’s what everybody thought. But Nike lied to you about this.
The Air Jordan Has Never Been Forbidden
Let’s stop with the false legends. First, the Air Jordan sneaker wasn’t ready when Michael Jordan started playing on the NBA courts. Second, MJ was wearing the black and red Air Ship, another basketball model of Nike, and guess what? The famous letter sent by Nike saying Michael Jordan cannot wear his black and red shoes was for the Air Ship, and not the Air Jordan, so the Air Jordan has nothing to do with the ban.
But talking about this letter, the legend said Michael Jordan was forbidden to wear the shoe, or he would pay 5000 dollars per game. Regarding the color, the legend is true, the black and red Air Ship was very controversial, and the NBA didn’t like it at all, so even if Nike said that this letter was for the Air Jordan bred, there’s a part of truth in that. However, regarding the $5000 fine, it was a pure invention, this letter was only a warning, and nobody ever said he would pay 5000 dollars per game to play with these shoes.
The former NBA commissioner David Stern discussed it in the documentary “Unbanned, the legend of AJ1”. In addition, there’s an exclusive interview where he details this story. Also, except for the All-Star game, Michael Jordan never wore the Air Jordan 1 Bred on a basketball court, so with this, it is confirmed that the shoe has never been forbidden. However, let’s be honest again if the Air Jordan 1 Bred was ready at the beginning of the season, it would have been the forbidden shoe instead of the Air Ship, so it is partially true. But the legend has been modified by Nike to sell these shoes, and it is what it is today, one of the genius marketing moves Nike has produced on its way to success.
