“Michael Jordan still won’t meet with me!”: Kanye West speaks about his feud with Air Jordan, sneaker releases and more on the Drink Champs podcast

Michael Jordan cannot take losing to anyone – be it on court, or to Kanye West in the sneaker game.

In 2018, when the Jordan Brand was in a bit of a slump putting out drab colorways and models that did not click with the consumers, Adidas and Kanye West (now Ye) officially sold more pairs than JB claiming the number 1 spot.

He even put up a lyric that said: “Yeezy jumped over Jumpman”.  This didn’t sit right with MJ, and he has not forgiven the DONDA star to this day. While the Nike-owned brand may have reclaimed the throne, it no longer is the monopoly it once was because of the rapper.

Kanye West has been with Yeezy for over 8 years now – but his time with Nike is the best remembered amongst sneakerheads. The Yeezy models that he came up with Nike are a thing of beauty.

The most popular model is the Yeezy 2 – specifically the “Red October”. When they shock-dropped, it took the world by storm. To this day, it is undoubtedly the most hyped non-athlete sneaker of all time.

Also Read: “NBA players are hoarding Kobes”: Senior ESPN writer Brian Windhorst speaks about the surging demand of the late Kobe Bryant’s signature sneaker line

Kanye West may be eccentric – but his vision for a company is exemplary

Back in 2013 when Kanye announced he would partner with Adidas, the brand really was not really starting any fires with their models – it all changed once Ye took over. His first model, the Yeezy 750 was a stark contrast to his products from Nike, but they sold like hot cakes.

To this day, there barely goes a release from the Atlanta born that remains on shelves. While his personal and product style has evolved into something so abstract over the years, he has become an astute business man increasing his net worth to over a billion dollars.

Kanye rescued the sinking ship of Adidas – a brand that was losing 2 billion a year, to now a 60 billion net worth. In that way, Jordan never really rescued Nike from the depths of peril, since it never really dipped that bad.

Even since the days of Blue Ribbon sports, Nike has been the best sportwear company, period. It is because of the business mind and the innate desire of Kanye to succeed, he has more than proved himself in the sneaker game.

Also Read: “Michael Jordan wasn’t supposed to wear the Jordan 11s but did so anyway”: How the Bulls legend went against his sneaker designer to lace up the iconic ‘Concord’ 11s

Ye truly jumped over the Jumpman, with his current net worth more than the athlete by about 200 million. Not bad for a high school dropout eh?