Three decades ago there was no Greek Goddess of Victory in basketball... Sports industry was dominated by Adidas and Converse... In 1984, Converse had players like Larry Bird, Magic Jonson, and Dr. J. Adidas preferred Kareem Abdul-Jabbar over Jordan. And Michael Jordan entering into this draft wanted to sign with Adidas. Where, Adidas refrained from offering a contract, on the other hand, Converse gave Mike a max contract of $100,000 per year. And Jordan did not even want a meeting with Nike... Then how did Nike come in the picture? DESPERATION! They gambled on Jordan and gave him an offer he could not refuse: $500,000 per year with a clause... CLAUSE: For the offer to be valid Michael within the first three years should complete one of three things: (I) Win rookie of the year or (II) Become an NBA all-star or (III) Average more than 20 PPG. But, Michael's heart still thumped for the loyalty in Adidas. Alas, the feelings were not reciprocated by Adidas as they considered Mike a 6.6' baller to be short as a brand marketer. Ultimately, Mike signed with Nike and so was the birth of flight named Air Jordan. Sports industry and Nike never looked back as the goddess of victory still dominates 90% of the basketball shoe market. By the way, Mike not only finished one but all of the Nike clauses in the first year itself by: (I) Winning Rookie of the year, (II) Becoming an All-star and (III) Averaging an insane 28.2 PPG.
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