Air Jordan High, the true story of banned sneakers
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by Redazione
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By tripledouble crew
This is the brief story of how the first Air Jordan High (OG Bred) were banned by the NBA, becoming a cult even before their first release. In fact, if there is a pair of shoes that launched the global sneaker craze for all ages and tastes, it is these: the Air Jordans by Nike. Often a phenomenon becomes such due to a couple of decisive factors: the protagonists and the allure of the forbidden. David Stern, Michael Jordan, and the “ban” were the perfect ingredients for a sales takeoff, and the shoe designed for the then Chicago Bulls rookie.
But let’s take it step by step: David Stern is the first architect of the NBA as we know it today: global, authentic, perfect in its organizational, promotional, economic, and competitive machinery. With him, in about 30 years, everything changed, from managing agreements with players and franchises, to increasing the number of teams (from a dozen in the ’70s to today’s 30), television rights, purely sporting dimension; from allowing professionals to the Olympics (ring a bell, “Dream Team”?) to new player rules (such as drug testing introduced in 1984 right after his election), managing iconic players like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Steph Curry, and of course, His Airness Michael Jordan.
It is Michael Jordan, the second and main protagonist of this story: the greatest basketball player of all time, a sports and business icon. There are very few people in the world who do not know who he is, who he was. Six NBA championships, 2 Olympic golds, dozens of personal accolades for his athletic prowess, dozens of incredible plays that are still watched by young and old on YouTube. Finally, the evolution of the character into a money-making machine: a face, an icon serving brands that became global thanks to him, recognizable, and significantly boosted their revenues during the ’80s and ’90s (Jordan was a spokesperson for brands like Coca Cola, McDonald’s, Gatorade) due to what some have dubbed the “Jordan Factor”: the mix of familiarity, greatness, warmth, charm, empathy, and freshness that Michael exuded. His face, his plays, and his personality on and off the court made him transcendental and innovative not only on the court but also off it. But let’s get back to our story.
In 1984, the NBA was not what we know today, and some rules or codes are seen as prehistoric nowadays. For instance, for the league (and thus David Stern), the game uniform had to match the team’s colors, and consequently, the jersey and shorts had to color-coordinate with the playing shoes. But Jordan (who had not yet played an official game, having entered the league in the summer of 1984) had a contract with Nike that involved launching a pair of sneakers bearing his name (Air Jordan). Michael wore them for just one Preseason game, but that was enough… he received a clear letter from the Commissioner: the shoe colors, red and black, did not match the then Chicago Bulls’ jersey colors. Penalty? A fine of $5,000, which today is peanuts even for the poorest benchwarmer on the worst NBA team (hello Sixers!), but at the time, it meant a $400,000 damage for the entire season, considering MJ was earning “only” $610,000 a season. The parent company was ready to pay the hefty fine, but Jordan did not disobey the ban and never wore the shoes in any league game, a decision that turned out to be a marketing win, including for the NBA.
In the last thirty years, Nike has cleverly used this episode to organize marketing campaigns around the league’s rules and the basketball world, launching a series of commercials on the banned shoes. The most famous of all read more or less “Air Jordan brought color to the game.”
From that fall of 1984 (the 31st edition of Air Jordans was launched this summer), Air Jordan is still owned by Nike, but it has become over time a brand capable of moving billions of dollars and, above all, has pushed the market, style, and use of sneakers forward, becoming an item that everyone wants to wear, from the lawyer in the high-rise of a Paris or London skyscraper to the last corner boy in any American ghetto.