As kids growing up in Chicago in the 1980s and 1990s, Darius Miles and Quentin Richardson idolized Michael Jordan. It would’ve been hard not to, considering his mammoth impact on basketball, pop culture, and the city.
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However, nothing cemented the Bulls superstar’s status as an icon like his shoes did. The Air Jordans were everywhere, especially in Chicago, and Miles and Richardson described on the Pat Bev Podcast how the iconic sneakers would elevate one’s status in schools in Illinois. Talking to co-host Rone, Miles said,
“MJ is everything to us. We grew up in that era when them Jordans came out and you walk in school with them Jordans on, and you just feel different, feel like you got a glow.”
Having idolized the Bulls icon all his life, it was a no-brainer decision for the forward when the Jordan Brand offered him a deal to become one of the athletes under their umbrella. The forward jumped at the opportunity and it remains one of his career’s highlights. He said,
“To go to the league and get the opportunity to represent Mike and wear Jordans, it’s a story I couldn’t even make up. I never would’ve thought in a million years that was finna be my shoe deal.”
Richardson, who also signed a deal with the Jordan Brand, described it as surreal. He said,
“Have Mike handpick us and say, ‘You coming with me.’ Have MJ put his arm around you and tell you, ‘Come on I got you.’ For me growing up in Chicago, to grow up and say, ‘I know Michael Jordan’, that’s mind-blowing.”
While the opportunity to work with and represent Jordan was a huge responsibility and honor, the Bulls icon never put any pressure on Richardson. Despite that, the forward never built up the courage to talk to him.
Richardson and Jordan’s business relationship
Richardson, drafted 18th overall in 2000, signed with the Jordan Brand in 1998. He claims to have known him personally since, but on The Stenberg Scoop, he revealed he has never spoken to him by text or over a phone call. Explaining why, he said,
“Every time I see Mike, it’s like, ‘Holy sh*t’. The f**k I’mma say to Michael Jordan? Like what am I calling or texting to ask you about?”
While Richardson found him intimidating off the court, he relished the opportunity to match up against his idol on it. He claimed he wanted to humiliate the Bulls icon when he faced him. The retired forward said,
“When we was on the court, I was like, ‘I gotta f**king do something against him, I gotta do something’… When we weren’t on his team, I used to try and kill Mike.”
Healthy off-court admiration and a competitive on-court spirit is a Jordan-esque trait. Perhaps that prompted the six-time NBA champion to sign Richardson to his brand before he entered the NBA.
