There aren’t many shoe deals in the world that have as many stories as Michael Jordan‘s deal with Nike. The deal and the eventual formation of the Jordan brand are the stuff of legend. With Air set to hit the theatres worldwide to much fanfare, stories surrounding the deal have been doing their rounds across media channels.
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But there are certainly a few omissions that Air certainly will not be diving deep into. After all, there were a lot of controversies involving Michael Jordan’s family that were part of the Air Jordan saga that isn’t likely to have gotten cleared for public display in movie form.
The most controversial narrative in the whole Air Jordan saga involved Michael Jordan’s parents. And with MJ’s father having passed away in the 1990s, it is unlikely that the makers got the Jordan family’s consent to portray the reality behind James Jordan‘s mismanagement of the rights that were accrued by him in the deal struck between his son and Nike.
But the fact does remain to be told. James Jordan was a poor businessman and his involvement in the deal, including the ‘Flight 23’ retail concept, proved to be calamitous.
The ‘Flight 23’ endeavor was once estimated to be worth $2 million. But James ran it to the ground to the dismay of the entire family. James Jordan’s management of the situation was so bad that even his beloved son wanted him off the project.
Michael Jordan agreed with Phil Knight when it came to buying out his parents’ interests in the Nike deal.
While MJ was very close to his father, he wasn’t going to lay a blind eye to blatant mismanagement. After all, it wasn’t common for a rookie to have gotten the status he achieved.
His Airness recognized the position he was in and wasn’t going to let it go to waste. Jordan wanted to build an empire and it wasn’t to have a foundation that was built on emotions. As Roland Lazenby retold in Michael Jordan: The Life:
“Jordan dearly loved and was loyal to both his parents, which made their conflict almost unbearable for him. “But he didn’t take his father’s side when it came to Nike,” Vaccaro recalled. Jordan agreed with Phil Knight that Nike should buy out his parents’ interests as soon as possible. Otherwise, the family was headed for a public relations nightmare due to James Jordan’s mismanagement.”
The drama that unfolded involving Jordan’s parents has enough content for a separate movie of its own. But that is likely to remain a concept that doesn’t see light.
James Jordan resisted the idea of having to give up the rights he had accrued from the Nike deal. But eventually budged in the face of good sense and pressure from Phil Knight himself. The decision, in hindsight, proved to be extremely beneficial for Michael Jordan and his relationship with Nike.
James Jordan went on to start his own clothing brand with proceeds from his Nike settlement.
Whether it was his entrepreneurial spirit or just an attempt to prove his competence, only James Jordan can tell. But there was an attempt to kick start his own clothing brand, by MJ’s father. That failed spectacularly, though, validating MJ’s decision to cut his own father off the Nike deal.
The two did maintain a solid relationship still, until James Jordan’s tragic and mysterious death. Such was the bond they shared that Michael Jordan even retired from basketball at the peak of his powers to play baseball, his father’s dream for him.
James Jordan may not have been able to make ‘Flight 23′ take off. But his role in molding His Airness is not to be taken lightly. There may have been losses as a result of James’ mismanagement. But the millions MJ made may not have been there in the first place without his influence.
