Michael Jordan said he promised Adidas he'd sign if they matched or exceeded Nike's offer: "They couldn't even come close"
Michael Jordan said he promised Adidas he'd sign if they matched or exceeded Nike's offer: "They couldn't even come close" originally appeared on Basketball Network.
Michael Jordan is currently a global marketing powerhouse and has changed the face of basketball footwear as the face of Nike. But his heart was initially set on a different brand. Not Nike, but Adidas.
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That may come as a surprise now, considering how the Air Jordan line has generated more than $6.6 billion for Nike to date, with the six-time NBA champion personally earning over $350 million alone from the deal. But during those pivotal early moments of his transition from college standout to NBA rookie, Jordan wasn't dreaming of swooshes or flight logos, he was waiting on Adidas.
Adidas couldn't match the offer
Jordan already had a strong emotional connection to Adidas. He wore it during his early college years and admired its aesthetic and presence on the court. So when the numbers started coming in, his mind wasn't on which company would cut the biggest check. It was about where he truly felt at home.
"I really liked Adidas," Jordan once said. "So I went back to Adidas hearing what Nike had proposed to me and said, 'If you match it, I'll go with Adidas.' And they actually never matched the deal. They couldn't even come close."
Coming off a legendary run at the University of North Carolina that included a national championship in 1982 and being named the NCAA Player of the Year in 1984, Jordan's stock was sky-high. He had just been drafted third overall by the Chicago Bulls and shoe companies were circling like sharks.
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Converse was still dominant, repped by the likes of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Adidas was considered the cool, European-flavored alternative, already worn by a significant portion of NBA players. And Nike, relatively new to basketball, was fighting to find its footing.
It wasn't just a case of a lowball offer. Adidas, at the time, was undergoing internal restructuring following the death of founder Adi Dassler. With no clear direction from the U.S. operations and fractured leadership in Europe, they simply weren't in a position to prioritize the NBA's newest attraction. The offer they put on the table lacked the scope and vision that Nike brought, not just in money, but in commitment.
Nike saw something larger. The apparel giant had already launched the Air technology and was looking for someone to anchor their basketball identity.
The company didn't just offer Jordan a deal, it gave him a blueprint for something far more enduring. A five-year contract worth $2.5 million, a signature shoe line and creative control that would shape not just sneakers but an entire era of athlete branding.
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Related: "I can't get so close to it, too, because of my competitive nature" - Michael Jordan on why he can't get himself to be a fan of any one player in the NBA
Becoming the brand
Jordan decided to sign with Nike and it marked the beginning of athlete-as-brand. At a time when signature shoes weren't standard for rookies, Nike rolled the dice and won big. From the very beginning, it handed Jordan the kind of creative influence that was unheard of at the time.
"I went with Nike and they centered everything around myself," Jordan said. "And they gave me to create with the basketball shoe, put my input, give me my input on the basketball shoe in terms of the way I like it and from that point on, it just kind of rolled."
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That kind of autonomy helped create not only iconic shoes like the Air Jordan 1, which dropped in 1985 and sold $126 million in its first year, but also the cultural mythology around them. The black-and-red colorway, famously "banned" by the NBA, only added fuel to the growing legend. Nike leaned into the controversy, spinning it into a campaign that turned Jordan into a symbol.
Adidas, by contrast, remained stuck. The company continued to struggle with internal management well into the late '80s and early '90s, missing opportunities to sign not just Jordan but several other high-profile athletes.
It wasn't until much later, after seeing Jordan's meteoric rise, that Adidas tried to reenter the U.S. basketball space more aggressively, but by then, the gap was already too wide.
Jordan, meanwhile, kept building. The Air Jordan brand evolved from performance gear to streetwear iconography. His shoes weren't just seen on the hardwood but in skate parks and corner store stoops.
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Each release became an event, each silhouette a time capsule. Even after his final NBA game in 2003, his brand only grew stronger, becoming a fashion and cultural statement beyond sports.
In missing the chance to sign Jordan, Adidas didn't just lose a sponsorship deal but missed the opportunity to define an entire generation. Nike didn't just pay Jordan. It listened, adapted and built with him.
That's what sealed the deal. And decades later, the decision remains one of the most consequential endorsements in sports history.
Related: "It was a ballet move where I jumped up and spread my legs" - Michael Jordan reveals the real story behind the Jumpman logo
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 19, 2025, where it first appeared.
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