photo credit: sling@flickr

If you have ever looked up the history on these legendary shoes then you probably know that they almost didn’t happen. In 1984 when Nike was struggling to build up their brand, they approached Michael Jordan with an endorsement deal. Michael Jordan, however, was not the least bit interested. He was more interested in brands like Adidas and Converse.

Legend has it that his agent at the time persuaded Michael to give Nike a chance which resulted in Michael Jordan listening to their sales pitch and watching a presentation. The Nike execs also presented him with sketches of the first Air Jordans. Afterward, Michael Jordan was still not impressed by it all but decided on signing the endorsement deal anyway.

Nike signed Jordan to a 5 year $2.5 million dollar deal and the Air Jordans took off. Michael would wear them on the basketball court even though the NBA banned them because of the loud colors and wild style at the time. Racking up fines at $5,000 per game, Nike was happy to pay the fines as long as the shoes were in the public eye. That is just a quick rundown of the history of the Air Jordans. To this day, they are still in very high demand with the older styles being more valuable than ever.