After the 2020 Netflix documentary The Last Dance showed Michael Jordan in the prime of his basketball glory, the recently released movie Air recounted the initial days of MJ’s illustrious career. Soon after his draft in 1984, Jordan established himself as the premier player in the league. His Airness’ dominance on the hardwood not only made him a household name in the country, but also laid the groundwork for his international fame. In no time, his seven-year $6.3 million rookie contract started looking feeble compared to his Herculean stature. Therefore, MJ’s agent David Falk decided to negotiate the ‘deal of a generation’ with the Chicago Bulls management, armed with all the leverage in the world.
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Jordan was always projected to be an exceptional player, especially after he won the NCAA championship with North Carolina. But his exploits on the basketball court exceeded all expectations. Besides, his indomitable spirit and almost vindictive obsession with outperforming everybody in the game soon became a storyline that captured the imagination of the masses. People realized the true extent of Jordan’s popularity and influence when Nike pulled a staggering $165 million in Air Jordans sales in the first three years, shattering their target of $4 million in sales in the first year.
David Falk negotiated the ‘Deal of a Generation’ for Michael Jordan
In the 1987-88 season, Jordan earned an annual salary of $845,000, after averaging 35 points, 5.5 boards, and 5.9 assists per game in the regular season. That same year, the Bulls star also bagged his first MVP award. Meanwhile, his salary failed to capture MJ’s meteoric rise in the league.
In fact, Jordan’s mere presence on the court exponentially increased the ticket sales in games, not only for the Chicago Bulls, but for other teams hosting the Bulls as well. The North Carolina native had started to transform the economy of the league, attracting more eyeballs to the sport. This was before he had won a single championship for the Chicago side.
Therefore, David Falk had all the leverage in the world when he negotiated an unprecedented eight-year $25 million deal for his client, making him the highest paid player in the league. MJ was so deserving of his rewards that most members of the NBA community welcomed the move. Sam Smith writes in his book The Jordan Rules:
“Falk had pulled off what seemed like the deal of a generation when word leaked early in 1988 that Jordan would sign an eight-year, $25 million contract with the Bulls. It dwarfed other deals for superstars, but so did Jordan’s popularity. Indiana general manager Donnie Walsh said, “We should all be chipping in to pay him. He does so much for the league.” Teams sold thousands of extra tickets whenever Jordan was in town, not to mention what he did for attendance in Chicago.”
The deal lost its value in the following years
The ‘deal of a generation’ soon became irrelevant after the league saw some major changes. In 1989, NBC agreed to pay the NBA $600 million to broadcast games for the next four years. This increased the cap space for teams.
Soon after, Jordan went from being the highest paid player in the league to being the seventh-highest. However, this minor inconvenience would be dwarfed by the Bulls finally getting past the ‘Bad Boy’ Pistons in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals and winning their first ever NBA championship against the Showtime Lakers in the NBA Finals.
The NBA championship would propel Jordan to a new horizon of superstardom, a path that would see him become the first billionaire NBA athlete.
