0000 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:10,000 YoubetCash.net Agen Judi Online Aman & Terpercaya 000 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:15,000 Bonus Cashback Bola 6% Bonus Rollingan 0,80% 00 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:20,000 Welcome Bonus Rp 25.000 Extra Bonus Tambahan Withdraw Rp 2.000.000 0 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:25,000 CashBack Mix Parlay 100% Bonus Ajak teman 45,2% 1 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:20,120 ♪♪ 2 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:38,960 ♪♪ 3 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:44,200 Reagan: America is back, standing tall, 4 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:47,400 looking to the eighties with courage, confidence, and hope. 5 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:49,840 Jackson: We are not going to be put back into slavery 6 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:53,680 by our own people, who are selling dope to destroy us. 7 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:56,400 Announcer: On September 15th, Nike created 8 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:59,720 a revolutionary new basketball shoe. 9 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:03,760 On October 18th, the NBA threw them out of the game. 10 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:09,760 Man: Government is not the solution to our problem. 11 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:11,400 Government is the problem. 12 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:12,840 Man #2: Air Jordan, Air Jordan. 13 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:14,880 Man #3: Air Jordan, Air Jordan, Air Jordan. 14 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:16,080 This is something you can buy. 15 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:24,600 ♪♪ 16 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:29,800 Man #4: Michael! Michael, you stuck it baby! 17 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:34,800 Bush: Read my lips. No new taxes. 18 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:46,280 ♪♪ 19 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:48,400 Woman: People waited in line all night long 20 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:52,400 to get the new Air Jordan basketball shoes. 21 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:56,800 They literally broke a door off the hinges. 22 00:01:56,800 --> 00:01:58,440 Several people were trampled, 23 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:01,200 while others crawled over them to get inside. 24 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:03,400 The shoes cost about $180. 25 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:04,920 Man: That's a lot of money to spend on shoes though, isn't it? 26 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:06,440 Yeah. 27 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:08,880 You know it's Michael Jordan, that's what he do. 28 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:10,200 All they want is that shoe. 29 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:11,400 My son, he just got to have them. 30 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:12,960 Man: Thank you, God bless you, 31 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:16,280 and God bless the United States of America. 32 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:23,680 Letterman: This last season, my next guest led his team, 33 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:25,680 the Chicago Bulls, into the NBA playoffs, 34 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:29,320 scoring a record of an amazing 63 points in a single game. 35 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:31,000 He is only 23 years of age. 36 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:32,880 Please welcome Michael Jordan, folks. 37 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:36,240 [ Cheers and applause ] 38 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:37,720 Hi, Michael. 39 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:38,960 Nice to see you. How are you? 40 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:40,160 Come on over. 41 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:45,440 My, oh my. 42 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:46,680 I got one thing to say. 43 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:48,560 Yeah? What's that? 44 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:48,560 I see Adidas shoes. 45 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:50,280 Yeah. 46 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:50,280 Why? 47 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:52,000 Well, now we can't talk about this, because the last time 48 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:54,720 we started talking about shoes, there was a huge deal, 49 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:56,200 and they had to run up to the legal department 50 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:58,480 and wake up the attorneys. 51 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:00,800 Now, I know you've got a huge contract with the company. 52 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:02,000 Put your feet down. 53 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:04,040 [ Laughter ] 54 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:06,320 Now, how much do you -- no stop that. 55 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:07,520 Or they won't let any of this on. 56 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:09,120 Okay. 57 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:10,440 Now, how much do you get paid just to wear these shoes? 58 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:12,080 A lot. 59 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:19,760 ♪♪ 60 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:27,400 ♪♪ 61 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:29,560 Well, Nike started as a running company. 62 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:30,960 They started in the running business. 63 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:32,880 And they were successful in the running business. 64 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:35,360 They wanted to grow, and branch out. 65 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:37,000 They got into other sports. 66 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:41,360 Then, in 1984, they weren't doing very well. 67 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:43,760 Dixon: In the early eighties, that was when they slipped 68 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:46,120 to number two in America, to Reebok. 69 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:49,040 And at that time, Knight asked the group 70 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:51,080 "Do you think we should sell now?" 71 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:54,720 And they all said "No. we can figure a way out of it." 72 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:57,880 Nike was considered to be kind of like a stepchild 73 00:03:57,880 --> 00:03:59,280 in the shoe game, at that point. 74 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:02,400 It was Converse. It was Adidas. 75 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:05,800 Other brands were much more solidly entrenched than Nike. 76 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:08,800 Nike was just this little company that could, 77 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:11,800 that was trying to fight for a piece of the market share. 78 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:15,680 Everybody in the business knew that the main consumer 79 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:18,400 for athletic shoes is 16-year-old boys. 80 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:23,000 So, the biggest sport to get to the masses is basketball. 81 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,040 Man: So, Nike knew that they needed to be in basketball, 82 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:28,760 but nobody really thought of Nike as a basketball brand, 83 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:30,160 particularly the kid. 84 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:33,000 The kid, as they called him, was the customer 85 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:35,200 who would buy basketball shoes. 86 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:37,280 And a lot of them were inner city kids. 87 00:04:37,280 --> 00:04:41,400 So, Rob Strasser decided what we needed was an icon. 88 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:44,520 We needed to find ourselves a basketball player 89 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:46,280 that kids wanted to be. 90 00:04:46,280 --> 00:04:48,840 ♪ Like Michael. Fight to be like Michael. ♪ 91 00:04:48,840 --> 00:04:51,200 ♪ I want to be, I want to be like Michael. ♪ 92 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:54,200 ♪ Like Michael. If I could be like Mike ♪ 93 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:56,480 You know the reality is that black people, 94 00:04:56,480 --> 00:05:01,480 since the beginning of time, have always made things cool. 95 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:03,000 Jazz, rock 'n' roll. 96 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:05,360 I mean, you pick literally anything, 97 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:07,000 from a cultural standpoint, 98 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:10,280 and we have always been the arbitrators of cool. 99 00:05:10,280 --> 00:05:12,800 And it was really no different with sneakers. 100 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:14,360 Williams: Marketing the Jordan brand 101 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:15,880 to the African American community 102 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:19,040 has been the core of the success of the Jordan brand. 103 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:21,920 And so, in order for Jordan to be as successful 104 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:23,920 as they have been, they had to start with 105 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:25,680 the African American market. 106 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:29,760 And they had to take that, and grow it to this massive brand 107 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:32,560 that it is today. 108 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:35,120 Telander: In the 1980s, the African American community 109 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:37,000 was struggling to try to find a leader, 110 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:39,000 try to find something to believe in. 111 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:42,760 You could say it was about race, or skin color, or ethnicity, 112 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:45,120 but it was mostly, as always, about poverty. 113 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:47,960 About economic disparity, and about hope, 114 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:50,080 and about a chance to move ahead, 115 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:54,400 to actually become part of the alleged great American ladder, 116 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:57,520 where you can start anywhere, and you can make it to the top. 117 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:00,200 That great myth that we believe in, here in this country. 118 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,680 Hill: The 1980s was a volatile time in this country. 119 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:05,600 You know, growing up in Detroit, for us, 120 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:07,600 I mean, we were no different than New York, 121 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:10,080 Chicago, where the influx of drugs 122 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:13,080 had, overnight, kind of changed a lot of middle class, 123 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:14,640 working class neighborhoods. 124 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:16,000 It was a depressing time, 125 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:19,120 because a lot of what those baby boomers 126 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:21,120 that were there and fought through civil rights 127 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:24,040 in the sixties and seventies, they were kind of seeing 128 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:26,640 the progress that they made slip away. 129 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:28,680 [ Crowd chanting "Four more years!" ] 130 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:30,520 Lazenby: Well, you know, American society 131 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:33,040 was experiencing the Reagan years. 132 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:36,840 And it was the early birth of the conservative movement 133 00:06:36,840 --> 00:06:40,120 as we know it today, with neo-conservatives. 134 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:43,960 Definitely, Ronald Reagan had lit the fires 135 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:46,520 for conservative thought. 136 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:48,520 Reagan: The present recession is bottoming out 137 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:50,880 without resorting to quick fixes. 138 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:53,440 There won't be a sudden boom, or upsurge, 139 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:55,160 but slowly and surely, 140 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:57,800 we'll have a sound and lasting recovery, 141 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:00,800 and an end to deficit spending. 142 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:02,920 Garcia: Generally, when you have Republican leadership, 143 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:08,160 it shifts and leans towards empowering corporate America, 144 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:10,000 privatization of institutions. 145 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:13,000 There's less funding for community programs. 146 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:14,520 You know, there was a big divide, 147 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:20,920 and a gap in the support for the youth. 148 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:23,160 Kent: Well, what was going on in the eighties, 149 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:26,400 it was communities within communities 150 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:27,800 building upon themselves, 151 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:29,720 and trying to take care of themselves. 152 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:35,240 And it kind of started fragmenting because of crack. 153 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:37,680 And because crack was so devastating, 154 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:41,040 it devastated the neighborhoods that we lived in. 155 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:44,400 Man: By the hundreds, Bronx residents made themselves heard today 156 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:47,680 to call for more action against the crack epidemic -- 157 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:49,720 an epidemic measured in violence, 158 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:52,440 broken homes, and burnt-out youngsters. 159 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:54,560 Well, the first thing that you learn about sport 160 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:56,880 is that sport is a microcosm society. 161 00:07:56,880 --> 00:07:59,240 And because this was happening in society, 162 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:00,760 it's always gonna seep into sport. 163 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:03,000 No different than, you know, what's happening 164 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:04,800 with the killing of unarmed black men 165 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:08,200 has seeped into the NFL with the Anthem protest. 166 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:10,720 And when you talk about the tragic deaths of athletes 167 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:12,200 like Len Bias, 168 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:13,800 which I think really changed everything. 169 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:16,040 By all intents and purposes people considered him 170 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:17,560 the next Michael Jordan. 171 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:18,960 When he collapsed, and passed away, 172 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:21,920 I think it really frightened a lot of people. 173 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:24,640 Len Bias was an all-American basketball star, 174 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:27,280 the University of Maryland's leading scorer. 175 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:30,200 And after four years of college, he was drafted this week 176 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:32,400 by the champion Boston Celtics. 177 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:35,360 Announcer: The world champion Celtics use their first round draft choice 178 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:38,680 to pick Bias to play for them after his graduation. 179 00:08:38,680 --> 00:08:42,960 This morning, Len Bias was dead of cardio respiratory arrest. 180 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:44,600 No one knows why yet. 181 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:46,680 There are reports that traces of cocaine 182 00:08:46,680 --> 00:08:48,640 were found in Bias' system. 183 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:53,640 Hill: The death of Len Bias, 184 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:56,840 it not only was a sports story it was an American story 185 00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:59,040 that wind up having a deep impact 186 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:02,360 on how people viewed the drug problem in this country. 187 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:05,560 And so, this was a death that affected policy, 188 00:09:05,560 --> 00:09:08,000 and that led to the mandatory minimums 189 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:10,560 that wound up being kind of the gateway 190 00:09:10,560 --> 00:09:14,000 to the huge explosion in mass incarceration. 191 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:17,080 So, it wasn't just about this particular athlete 192 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:18,760 dying of a drug overdose. 193 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:23,160 This was about how this death shaped American policy 194 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:25,040 when it came to criminal justice. 195 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:27,800 That was coming out of the 1970s. 196 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:31,520 Cocaine was a big party drug in the NBA itself. 197 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:36,640 In 1984, David Stern would become commissioner, 198 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:40,520 and they would begin all of the drug policy 199 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:45,480 that eventually allowed the NBA to raise its profile. 200 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:50,240 But it took a while for that to really gain traction. 201 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:52,400 ♪ We're the LA Lakers, and we're here to say ♪ 202 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:54,680 ♪ that the drugs are killing everything ♪ 203 00:09:54,680 --> 00:09:57,000 ♪ Cocaine and crack, it's all got to go ♪ 204 00:09:57,000 --> 00:09:59,200 ♪ We've got to learn to just say "no" ♪ 205 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:01,200 ♪ I'm Kareem, the captain of the team ♪ 206 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:03,520 ♪ I don't need drugs, I've got a higher thing ♪ 207 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:05,320 ♪ My sky hook makes the team look good. ♪ 208 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:08,320 ♪ But there's a hook we got to shape from the neighborhood ♪ 209 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:11,960 Telander: In the eighties, basketball was starting, for the first time, 210 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:13,200 particularly at the highest levels, 211 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:15,800 to be dominated by black athletes. 212 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:17,600 And it hadn't been that way because of racism 213 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:19,240 and segregation. 214 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:20,920 You know, there had always been the greats, the Wrens, 215 00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:22,360 and the Harlem Globe Trotters. 216 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:24,440 But people said "That doesn't really count." 217 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:29,040 Announcer: The Globe Trotters have made basketball 218 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:31,600 into something more like a ballet than a sport. 219 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:32,960 Supremely confident, 220 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:35,160 their choreography of sparkling precision 221 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:39,000 that leaves both spectators and opponents mystified. 222 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:43,000 Telander: The Chicago Bulls were a reflection of this new time. 223 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:45,760 Many of the players were black, many of the stars were, 224 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:47,760 and the crowd was still white. 225 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:50,880 You could sense, maybe, if not a tension, 226 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:53,960 but not a real kind of community feeling 227 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:58,040 between the basketball team and the surrounding area. 228 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:01,760 Lazenby: I remember going to Chicago Stadium, 229 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:05,360 which was located in blighted neighborhoods, 230 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:10,880 and there was a real sense of cultural clash there. 231 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:12,400 I think, until Jordan came, 232 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:15,200 Chicago wasn't really a destination for anybody. 233 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:17,480 They just didn't have that transcendent sports team 234 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:19,720 to make things change. 235 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:27,200 Lazenby: The Chicago Bulls were a relatively young franchise 236 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:28,600 in the early 1980s. 237 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:33,440 They'd only really gotten started in 1966/67. 238 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:37,800 But they were a dismal franchise in deep financial trouble. 239 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:41,200 On the outside, the Bulls were just a sad franchise. 240 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:44,840 But at the same time, the city wasn't expecting much from them. 241 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:48,640 There was always a sense of the Bulls doing decent -- 242 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:50,880 never big, decent. 243 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:53,080 Bengtson: You just didn't care. Like, they didn't matter. 244 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:54,880 They were a team that came into town, 245 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:57,400 and they played, and no one cared. 246 00:11:57,400 --> 00:11:59,840 Announcer: Chicago hasn't scored in the last two minutes. 247 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:04,200 There was a reason that they got to draft Michael Jordan third. 248 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:07,000 I mean, Houston took Hakeem. 249 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:10,160 The Portland Trailblazers took Sam Bowie. 250 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:11,640 Yeah, he went third. 251 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:13,360 Bengtson: They were awful. 252 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:14,960 You obviously don't get the number-three pick in the draft 253 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:16,240 unless you're terrible. 254 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:18,880 And they were pretty terrible. 255 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:20,400 Lazenby: Michael Jordan signing with the Bulls, 256 00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:22,200 the fact that he was the third player taken, 257 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:26,200 and the Bulls had that third choice, was just amazing. 258 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:30,440 The Chicago Bulls pick Michael Jordan. 259 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:35,440 ♪♪ 260 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:37,320 Lazenby: People thought, "Well, you know, I saw this guy play 261 00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:39,440 in college for North Carolina. 262 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:40,720 He was pretty exciting." 263 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:46,880 ♪♪ 264 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:53,040 ♪♪ 265 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:54,320 Jackson: He was the two-time Player of the Year 266 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:55,960 after his freshman year. 267 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:57,760 But if you really followed the game, he still wasn't -- 268 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:00,400 to a lot of people, wasn't the best player in the ACC. 269 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:02,760 You know, Len Bias was the best player in the ACC. 270 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:06,600 That kind of shifted during that summer with USA basketball. 271 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,160 You know, we kind of knew the dude was nice. 272 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:10,800 But it was after the draft 273 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:12,880 when we find out how nice he really was. 274 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:17,280 We didn't know he had the ability to score like that. 275 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:21,800 Announcer: Jordan gets Sims off his feet, and shoots right over him. 276 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:23,800 There's Jordan. 277 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:25,920 14 for Michael Jordan. 278 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:27,600 Then, Fleming from Georgia, 279 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:31,680 nice dump pass by Alford to the acrobatic Michael Jordan. 280 00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:33,400 And some people were like, "Oh, my God. 281 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:34,920 We just got, I think, 282 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:37,000 a great, great basketball player." 283 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:38,360 But nobody knew. 284 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:39,920 The Americans were so much better 285 00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:43,040 than everybody else in 1984 that it was almost absurd 286 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:47,120 to make any comparisons about anything. 287 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:48,880 Announcer: Jordan again. 288 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:50,080 Announcer #2: He's beautiful. 289 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:52,320 And Nike had identified him. 290 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:55,120 Sonny Vaccaro, who was an executive at Nike, 291 00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:57,200 not even a high-level executive. 292 00:13:57,200 --> 00:14:00,400 But he managed a lot of Nike's basketball business. 293 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:03,400 He got the sense, in watching Jordan as freshman 294 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:05,040 at the Final Four 295 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:09,840 that Jordan was going to be this cross-over person. 296 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:12,760 And on Sonny Vaccaro's hunch, 297 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:15,640 they were already negotiating his contract with Nike. 298 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:20,200 ♪♪ 299 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:23,040 You know, Sonny is the driving force who convinced them. 300 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:25,680 Like, "Look. Don't spread everything out. 301 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:27,600 you know, "Trust me, this one guy -- 302 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:29,880 this Michael Jordan coming out of North Carolina -- 303 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:31,760 is gonna be the guy." 304 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:32,960 Announcer: Michael Jordan. 305 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:34,280 Everything seems to be 306 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:36,240 like a highlight film when he plays. 307 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:38,320 Man: Well, Sonny Vaccaro came to Nike 308 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:40,000 basically through the college ranks. 309 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:42,280 And he had a tournament called "The Dapper Dan," 310 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:43,840 that was held in Pittsburgh, 311 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:46,400 that Nike had wanted to get involved with, 312 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:49,560 because that was where top high school kids went to play. 313 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:52,160 So, if you really wanted to know who the next basketball player 314 00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:55,520 was gonna be, you went to Sonny Vaccaro. 315 00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:57,320 You know, he was the one who convinced them, 316 00:14:57,320 --> 00:14:59,240 "if you pay a college coach X amount, 317 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:00,600 they'll wear your shoes. 318 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:02,320 Give me this budget, and I'll go get you 319 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:03,680 the best college coaches." 320 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:06,640 The deal was this coach, you sign the coach, 321 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:10,280 his team wears Nike shoes. 322 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:15,200 Sonny really knew how to spot the young basketball stars. 323 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:16,800 To get them when they're in high school, 324 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:19,560 to get them in the Nike shoes, to get them used to them, 325 00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:22,720 so when they turned pro, they would go with Nike. 326 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:23,920 Garcia: It was brilliant. 327 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:25,400 Sonny Vaccaro at Nike, 328 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:28,200 like, he knew what he was doing, you know? 329 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:29,960 It was like "Alright, well, we can't compete with y'all 330 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:32,760 up there, but we're gonna kill y'all over here. 331 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:34,880 And all these cats that are here 332 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:37,520 are gonna be those next Julius Erving, 333 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:40,360 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Tiny Archibald." 334 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:41,880 Lazenby: The coaches were stunned. 335 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:43,520 They didn't think it was legal. 336 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:45,280 Is this free money? 337 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:48,400 And sales were rising accordingly 338 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:50,400 with all this new exposure. 339 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:53,040 No question that Nike Basketball, 340 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:54,600 including Air Jordan, 341 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:56,440 and including the rest of it, 342 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:59,440 would not be where it is without Sonny Vaccaro. 343 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:01,840 Phil Knight may not want to admit it. 344 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:03,600 Sonny Vaccaro built it. 345 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:06,560 He and Rob Strasser together built what is today 346 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:08,520 known as Nike Basketball. 347 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:15,000 ♪♪ 348 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,240 Vaccaro: You know, I'm gonna give you a surprise. 349 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:21,320 I'm gonna show you the one priceless thing 350 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:23,200 that Michael Jordan gave to me. 351 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:24,840 He was playing the Los Angeles Lakers 352 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:26,480 the year that they won the championship. 353 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:28,440 And Howard White called me, and says, 354 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:30,600 "Michael left you a pair of shoes." 355 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:32,160 And what do I get? 356 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:35,440 This is the famous shoe when he hurt his toe 357 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:38,200 against the Lakers, playing for the world championship, 358 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:39,760 that he wore that night. 359 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:41,600 And he gave them to me. 360 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:45,360 In my opinion, the most priceless Jordan shoes, 361 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:48,200 because we know there's only one pair of the ones 362 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:50,120 he wore in that game. 363 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:52,480 Announcer: And the Bulls do not have any timeouts remaining. 364 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:56,400 Craig Hodges, a three point specialist, has checked in. 365 00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:58,560 Here's Jordan on the pull up. 366 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:00,200 Yes! 367 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:07,440 And the game is tied at 92 with 3:04 seconds remaining. 368 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:10,000 Alright, Marv, one thing is gonna bother the Bulls. 369 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:12,240 Just during that last play, Michael Jordan hurt 370 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:13,560 the tip of his big toe. 371 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:15,200 They've taken it out, and taken a look at it, 372 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:17,640 and it's gonna be painful, but he'll try to go with it. 373 00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:20,640 Vaccaro: In the mid 1980s -- 82, 83 I guess, 374 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:24,400 Nike was gonna finally sign a pro player 375 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:26,360 that was gonna be a signature shoe -- 376 00:17:26,360 --> 00:17:28,600 which was the new term at that time. 377 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:32,280 And it was a very good draft class at 1984, 378 00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:33,800 very good draft class. 379 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:36,600 And it came down to selecting somebody. 380 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:39,320 So, they asked me, "What do I do?" 381 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:41,720 And I just said, "Give it to the kid." 382 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:47,240 If you're gonna name a shoe after a high flier, 383 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:49,080 how in the hell can you give it two or three? 384 00:17:49,080 --> 00:17:51,000 There's only one chief. 385 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:55,800 The famous phrase was, "Will you bet your job?" 386 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:57,640 I said, "Give it all to Jordan. 387 00:17:57,640 --> 00:17:59,960 He has what you want." 388 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:02,840 Announcer: Gordie to Jordan. Breaks out on him. 389 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:05,160 Good coverage, defensively. He still hit it. 390 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:07,440 Oh, what presence of mind. 391 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:11,160 Announcer #2: It's amazing what the freshman can do. 392 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:22,800 Lazenby: Nike's executives decided to plow their entire budget 393 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:24,800 into this young Michael Jordan, 394 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:29,800 who had never played an NBA game. 395 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:32,000 Knight: And we didn't even know who Jordan was. 396 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:35,720 He played for North Carolina, which was a Dean Smith school. 397 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:37,600 Dean Smith was a Converse guy. 398 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:40,920 So, we assumed all his guys were gonna go to Converse. 399 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:43,800 Well, Sonny convinced us that we could get this guy. 400 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:46,600 And so, he set about to go get him. 401 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:49,880 At one point, they wanted to bring Michael out to Beaverton, 402 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:51,600 sort of like college recruit. 403 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:53,280 They wanted to have a campus visit -- except for one thing. 404 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:54,720 Michael didn't want to go. 405 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:56,480 He said, "David, I have no interest in Nike. 406 00:18:56,480 --> 00:18:57,880 I don't know anything about Nike. 407 00:18:57,880 --> 00:18:59,520 If you want to go see Nike, like you go." 408 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:01,200 I said, "Well, I don't need to see Nike. 409 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:03,920 But you can't make an intelligent informed decision 410 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:06,840 until you see the campus, and see what they have to offer, 411 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:08,400 and see what the people are like, 412 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:10,680 and what the product is like." 413 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:12,480 He turned me down. So, I went to his parents. 414 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:14,520 I said, "Look, it's the very first thing ever 415 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:15,760 I'm asking him to do 416 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:16,960 since he picked me to work with him. 417 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:18,640 You've got to help me. 418 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:20,560 We can't work together if he's not gonna at least visit." 419 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:23,080 They said, "David, don't worry. He'll be on the plane." 420 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:29,200 Knight: The brand that he really wanted to sign with was Adidas. 421 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:33,080 He had worn Adidas all through college, except in the games, 422 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:35,160 'cause he had to wear Converse in the games. 423 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:38,360 The problem was, Adidas never asked him to come to Germany 424 00:19:38,360 --> 00:19:40,480 for a presentation, or anything. 425 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:42,840 Years later, when I went to Adidas, I asked them, 426 00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:45,800 I said, "Why on earth didn't you sign Michael Jordan?" 427 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:47,440 They said they had no idea 428 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:49,360 who he was, or what they'd do with him. 429 00:19:49,360 --> 00:19:50,880 If he wanted shoes, they'd be more than happy 430 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:52,320 to give him shoes. 431 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:55,080 But they weren't gonna pay him any money. 432 00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:56,360 We went to all the companies, 433 00:19:56,360 --> 00:19:58,720 and instead of making a proposal, 434 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:00,760 I basically said to them, 435 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:04,280 "We're going to let you meet with Michael, and explain, 436 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:07,200 if he picked you, what can you do for him?" 437 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:08,840 Which is a really different kind of a concept. 438 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:10,040 Instead of asking what the player can do 439 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:11,800 for the company, you know, 440 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:13,800 we ask what the company can do for the player. 441 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:15,000 And truthfully, most of the companies 442 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:16,720 weren't prepared for that. 443 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:19,400 Converse, at the time, they were the official shoe of the NBA. 444 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:21,560 And their pitch to him was "We're going to treat you 445 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:23,040 just like everybody else." 446 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:24,440 Which they thought was a great pitch 447 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:26,240 because they had so many great players. 448 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:28,760 I was looking for something more creative, and unique. 449 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:30,640 So, in terms of Nike, 450 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:33,160 Sonny said to me, like, "What's important to you?" 451 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:36,080 And I said to him, "I know this is gonna sound really crazy, 452 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:38,200 but I want you to treat him like he's a tennis player. 453 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:40,720 I want him to have his own line of shoes and clothes. 454 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:41,960 I want to have commercials. 455 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:43,600 I want you to market him like he's playing 456 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:45,120 an individual sport." 457 00:20:45,120 --> 00:20:48,320 People thought that wouldn't work in team sports. 458 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:50,640 And we set out to prove that it would work. 459 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:55,320 Prior to Jordan, the endorsement business -- 460 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:57,600 particularly the basketball endorsement business -- 461 00:20:57,600 --> 00:21:01,760 was pretty much team-orientated. 462 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:06,640 Converse had Julius Erving, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird. 463 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:08,800 All three of those guys wore the same shoe. 464 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:10,680 They wore Converse shoes. 465 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:17,480 Basketball shoes in America were sort of a closed business. 466 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:20,240 Converse, which had the Chuck Taylors, 467 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:23,040 the canvas and rubber shoes, 468 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:25,640 they'd had the business for so long. 469 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:28,280 There were no great endorsement deals. 470 00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:32,800 Converse simply gave the Celtics and other NBA teams -- 471 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:35,760 a lot of NBA teams had to pay for their shoes, 472 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:37,600 but they simply gave them, 473 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:39,520 so that they would have shoes to wear, 474 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:42,160 and fans would see them, and magazines 475 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:43,840 would take their photographs. 476 00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:45,920 And it was a nice little business, 477 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:49,040 but it wasn't a big-money business. 478 00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:52,680 Stern: Converse had all of our players, 479 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:55,920 but they were not too keen on marketing. 480 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:58,400 And then, when Michael came along, 481 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:00,480 Nike understood that this was 482 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:02,880 an opportunity to use his connection 483 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:05,880 to the league, and his prowess as a basketball player, 484 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:09,600 as a stepping stone to grow the industry. 485 00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:13,280 ♪♪ 486 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:17,040 There are obviously NBA players who had shoe contracts. 487 00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:19,880 But that was all relatively restrained. 488 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:23,120 You know, a lot of them were for $9,000 or $10,000. 489 00:22:23,120 --> 00:22:26,800 Kareem was probably getting in the neighborhood 490 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:29,640 of $100,000 a year. 491 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:34,000 Hill: It wasn't seen as something where athletes were necessarily 492 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:37,120 shaping culture the way shoes shape culture now. 493 00:22:37,120 --> 00:22:39,720 And so, this idea that there was gonna be 494 00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:43,200 this whole marketplace of athletes pedaling shoes 495 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:45,280 was just kind of unheard of, 496 00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:49,360 and to some degree, considered to be ridiculous. 497 00:22:49,360 --> 00:22:52,800 Pre-Jordan it was, you know, "Here's our shoe. 498 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:55,880 You're endorsing it. We'll pay you to do that." 499 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:57,400 And that's basically where it ends. 500 00:22:57,400 --> 00:22:58,920 They would be in commercials. 501 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:01,600 They would maybe get a shoe in their color. 502 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:04,080 But it was nothing special. 503 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:05,640 It's reinforced for me. 504 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:06,960 And me. 505 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:09,760 Hey, maybe it was made for both of us. 506 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:11,400 Must be magic. 507 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:13,640 Now that's who this shoe was made for. 508 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:15,720 [ All laugh ] 509 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:20,960 Announcer: The Converse Star Tech, with the unique uni-saddle design. 510 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:24,080 You had Larry Bird and Magic Johnson with Converse. 511 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:25,520 You had Dr. J with Converse. 512 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:28,800 I mean, Dr. J was the first superstar. 513 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:30,280 ♪ Hey, hey, Dr. J ♪ 514 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:32,640 He was the first elevation of the sneaker game, 515 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:34,480 wearing Dr. J Converses. 516 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:37,240 ♪ Are you a member of the human race ♪ 517 00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:41,520 ♪ Hey, Dr. J, are you wearing magic shoes? ♪ 518 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:44,480 Announcer: He's wearing Converse, the shoes of the stars. 519 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:47,160 Kent: But if you really want to look at it, 520 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:51,080 the guy who changed the game was Clyde, 521 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:54,560 because he was the first coolest basketball player. 522 00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:56,920 He was the guy you wanted to be like. 523 00:23:56,920 --> 00:23:59,000 He was the guy you wanted to dress like. 524 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:04,120 ♪♪ 525 00:24:04,120 --> 00:24:06,600 When you saw him you saw the mink coats, 526 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:08,040 you saw the Rolls-Royces, 527 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:09,800 he looked like the hustlers. 528 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:11,600 He looked like a superhero. 529 00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:16,080 And then, he has his name in gold on the side of a sneaker. 530 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:20,600 So, everything else after that was a byproduct of him 531 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:23,720 being the coolest first. 532 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:27,080 But it's like the player had to be cool, as well. 533 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:29,560 Like, was Magic Johnson cool? 534 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:30,760 Not really. 535 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:32,200 Was Larry Bird cool? 536 00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:34,200 Was Abdul-Jabbar cool? 537 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:35,520 Not really. 538 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:38,920 But then, Michael Jordan is semi-cool. 539 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:46,960 But then, his sneaker becomes a character, and then that's cool. 540 00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:48,400 So, he reluctantly agreed. 541 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:49,760 Knight: He comes to Oregon. 542 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:51,560 And then, we started showing him the things 543 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:53,040 that we wanted to do with him, 544 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:55,920 including making a red, white, and black shoe. 545 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:58,400 And he said, "So, you want me to play in this?" 546 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:00,800 We said "Yeah. That's the idea. You play in the game, 547 00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:03,640 because they see you playing the game, they buy the shoe." 548 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:08,880 We played a tape using the Pointer Sisters song "Jump." 549 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:10,720 with a highlight reel of him, 550 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:12,560 And at the end, we showed the wings 551 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:14,640 and the Jordan trademark. 552 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:17,800 But mostly, what we had was, we had a program. 553 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:19,320 We were gonna make Michael Jordan 554 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:21,120 a marketing superstar. 555 00:25:21,120 --> 00:25:27,400 ♪♪ 556 00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:30,600 He was impressed with the boldness of the idea. 557 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:32,680 And we went to dinner that night with his parents. 558 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:35,720 And at the end of the dinner, his mother leaned over and said, 559 00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:39,960 "Don't worry about it Michael will be wearing Nike." 560 00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:42,680 So, the deal was a five-year deal. 561 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:44,760 Michael got a certain amount of guaranteed money 562 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:46,480 over a five-year period. 563 00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:49,160 On top of that, he got a very large annuity 564 00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:50,480 that would start paying him 565 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:51,960 after he retired from basketball -- 566 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:53,680 over $1 million a year. 567 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:56,040 And he obviously got royalties on the shoe. 568 00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:57,880 And it was a deal that, actually, 569 00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:00,120 I believe, that we proposed to Michael, 570 00:26:00,120 --> 00:26:01,760 that they didn't propose to us. 571 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:04,800 We proposed to Michael to sort of take the price down, 572 00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:07,320 how much cash we'd actually have to put out. 573 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:09,760 Falk: I asked Nike what their expectations were. 574 00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:12,280 And their expectations were, in the five-year deal, 575 00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:15,720 by the end of year three, they'd hope to sell $3 million 576 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:17,600 worth of shoes heading into year four. 577 00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:19,000 That was their expectation. 578 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:21,520 And they sold $126 million the first year. 579 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:25,120 Where I think we made a mistake is, we didn't put a cap on it, 580 00:26:25,120 --> 00:26:28,840 and we didn't say "Okay, after so many thousands of pairs, 581 00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:31,160 the royalty rate goes down." 582 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:35,280 The thinking was, "Look, if he sold that many shoes, great." 583 00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:37,040 As it turned out, that's what happened. 584 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:39,440 They sold so many shoes they didn't know what to do with it, 585 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:42,760 and Michael made a lot of money. 586 00:26:46,360 --> 00:26:49,800 Falk: By the end of year three, they'd hope to sell $3 million 587 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:51,640 worth of shoes heading into year four. 588 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:53,040 That was their expectation. 589 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:55,600 And they sold $126 million the first year. 590 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:59,200 Where I think we made a mistake is, we didn't put a cap on it, 591 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:02,960 and we didn't say "Okay, after so many thousands of pairs, 592 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:05,200 the royalty rate goes down." 593 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:09,280 The thinking was, "Look, if he sold that many shoes, great." 594 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:11,040 As it turned out, that's what happened. 595 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:13,360 They sold so many shoes they didn't know what to do with it, 596 00:27:13,360 --> 00:27:15,440 and Michael made a lot of money. 597 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:18,000 Falk: Now, if I would have known that, I probably would have asked them 598 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:22,000 to pay him a dollar a year and 50/50 on the royalties. 599 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:23,240 Now, had we done that, 600 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:24,840 maybe they wouldn't have pushed the line. 601 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:27,960 The most important aspect of his deal 602 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:30,240 wasn't the money or the royalties. 603 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:32,120 I forced them to spend $1 million. 604 00:27:32,120 --> 00:27:33,800 in the first six months to promote him. 605 00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:36,280 I think we agreed that we would pay him 606 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:38,200 close to $1 million, 607 00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:41,480 and that we would put close to $1 million into marketing. 608 00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:43,480 And then, the fun stuff started. 609 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:49,680 And the fun stuff was, "How are we gonna market this guy?" 610 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:52,880 We all talked about how he used to soar in the air. 611 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:56,600 David Falk, to his credit, said "I've got a name for this thing. 612 00:27:56,600 --> 00:27:58,240 it should be called 'Air Jordan.'" 613 00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:00,120 Rob immediately wants to use the name. 614 00:28:00,120 --> 00:28:02,120 I said, "Well, why don't we think about it for a little while. 615 00:28:02,120 --> 00:28:04,160 There's an airline that's called "Air Jordan.'" 616 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:07,720 But no, Rob was going with Air Jordan. 617 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:09,840 Michael always tells me it's the first 618 00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:13,000 and the last great idea I ever had. 619 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:16,680 After that, I went and saw him in Washington D.C. 620 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:19,640 In that conversation, he told me that he didn't want to wear 621 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:21,320 red, white, and black. 622 00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:23,400 And when I asked him, I said, "Well, what's the reason?" 623 00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:25,320 He said, "They're the devil's colors." 624 00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:27,400 I said, "Well, they're the Chicago Bull's colors, 625 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:29,960 so you better go talk to the guy that owns the Chicago Bulls. 626 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:31,480 'cause I can't change them." 627 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:33,360 I mean he wanted to wear Carolina blue, 628 00:28:33,360 --> 00:28:35,640 which was the color of his school. 629 00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:37,000 And I said, "We'll make you a pair, 630 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:38,360 you can wear them on Saturdays. 631 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:40,160 But you're in red, white, and black. 632 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:43,640 You know, that's just the way it's got to be." 633 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:46,560 Jackson: The ideology behind doing this came a long time 634 00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:48,480 before the shoe was first launched. 635 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:49,960 You know, these conversations with Jordan 636 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:52,200 getting his own shoe came his rookie year. 637 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:54,160 But they waited before they actually launched it. 638 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:56,800 And the lead up to that was beautiful, 639 00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:58,800 because what they did is put the shoes on Jordan, 640 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:00,640 so you could see him playing. 641 00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:02,280 Bengtson: You know, the build-up of that shoe before it released 642 00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:04,920 at retail was five or six months long, 643 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:08,040 which was fairly unheard of back then. 644 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:10,600 And I think the idea of a new shoe model 645 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:12,640 being such a big deal, 646 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:15,880 and being such a big deal to people other than athletes, 647 00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:18,720 was something really different. 648 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:20,680 Knight: The first time he wore the shoes, 649 00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:22,680 he wore them in New York 650 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:25,200 at an exhibition game -- a pre-season game. 651 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:27,000 They're out doing their warm-up drills, 652 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:30,640 and all of a sudden, there's a bunch of kids start gathering. 653 00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:32,960 And they're all pointing at his shoes. 654 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:35,600 David Falk happens to be sitting in the arena, 655 00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:37,560 and he wants to know what all this is about. 656 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:39,200 "What's going on here?" 657 00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:42,120 And they tell him, "Oh, Jordan's got on these crazy shoes." 658 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:44,720 And sure enough, the shoes get banned. 659 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:48,440 At that time, David Stern, who was head of the NBA, 660 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:51,080 had a rule that only white footwear 661 00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:52,720 was allowed on the court. 662 00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:55,280 Stern saw these shoes, and said, "That's against the rules. 663 00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:57,040 You can't do it." 664 00:29:57,040 --> 00:29:59,360 Bengtson: The original Air Jordan was just a project 665 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:03,320 that was kind of unprecedented in the way Nike worked. 666 00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:06,800 You know, they signed Jordan that summer, and wanted to get 667 00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:10,360 a signature shoe on his foot in that first season, 668 00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:12,280 which really compressed the amount of time 669 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:15,000 they had to get this shoe done. 670 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:17,120 So, in the meantime, he had to wear something else. 671 00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:20,360 and what he ended up wearing was the Nike Air Ship. 672 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:21,720 And that was the shoe 673 00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:24,200 that originally drew the ire of the NBA, 674 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:27,080 and basically banning the shoe. 675 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:30,760 Stern: We told Michael and Nike that, whatever shoe he was wearing 676 00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:33,560 didn't conform, so would they please change it. 677 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:35,680 And Rob said, "So, what are you gonna do, fine him?" 678 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:37,200 He goes "Yes. I'm gonna fine him." 679 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:38,960 And Rob said, "Go ahead and fine him. 680 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:40,440 Nike will cover him." 681 00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:43,320 It became the shoe that was banned by the NBA, 682 00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:44,960 with the implication that it was 683 00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:47,640 because it made Michael such a good basketball player. 684 00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:51,160 Announcer: On September 15th, Nike created a revolutionary 685 00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:53,680 new basketball shoe. 686 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:59,720 On October 18th, the NBA threw them out of the game. 687 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:03,640 Fortunately, the NBA can't stop you from wearing them. 688 00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:06,440 ♪♪ 689 00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:10,200 Lazenby: Nike officials reacted with glee to this, 690 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:13,880 because that meant that, if something is outlawed, 691 00:31:13,880 --> 00:31:16,000 it becomes very precious. 692 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:19,360 Williams: Typically, when you brand a product, you start with 693 00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:21,800 what we call "functional benefits of consumption." 694 00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:24,560 You want to give people a sense that, again, 695 00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:26,280 this somehow solves a problem 696 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:28,800 or it somehow makes you better at something you're doing. 697 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:30,960 And that was the first thing we did with the Jordan brand, 698 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:34,120 was "Hey, we gave you the sense that you would be 699 00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:37,000 a better basketball player if you were to wear these shoes, 700 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:38,680 and that the NBA band these shoes 701 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:40,480 because it gave Michael Jordan 702 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:42,240 some type of competitive advantage." 703 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:43,440 And then, you look on television, 704 00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:45,240 and you see this man doing things 705 00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:48,600 that you'd never seen an athlete do, ever, you believe in it. 706 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:50,960 They gave Nike the best publicity ever 707 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:52,600 when they banned the Air Jordan, 708 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:55,120 which only made them hotter in the streets. 709 00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:57,640 Knight: There's no question of the fact that the shoes were banned 710 00:31:57,640 --> 00:31:58,880 helped the sale of the shoes. 711 00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:00,400 Kids like that stuff. 712 00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:02,600 Particularly the inner city kid, he loves that stuff. 713 00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:05,320 "I'm wearing something I'm not supposed to be wearing. 714 00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:06,520 Perfect." 715 00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:07,960 [ Laughs ] 716 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:09,160 Couldn't be better. 717 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:10,480 And, all of a sudden, overnight, 718 00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:12,360 it was just like everybody wanted them. 719 00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:14,760 They were being sold on the street corners 720 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:16,600 for hundreds of dollars. 721 00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:18,680 Knight The first time we showed Footlocker, for example -- 722 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:21,000 which is the biggest retailer in America -- 723 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:24,000 they only wanted 5,000 pairs for all their stores. 724 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:28,000 Within a week, they called, and wanted 150,000 pairs. 725 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:29,600 -Nike! -Adidas! 726 00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:32,040 Competition is the name of the game at Footlocker, 727 00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:34,480 with the biggest selection of big names ever assembled. 728 00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:36,680 So, whether your game is serious or social, 729 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:39,000 we'll find the right shoe for you. 730 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:42,120 You know, you don't tell people not to do something, 731 00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:44,720 because they want to do it -- particularly that age group. 732 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:46,480 And that just shows you the personality 733 00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:48,000 of the kid who's buying the shoe. 734 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:51,000 He wanted to break the rules. 735 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:53,320 Kent: The shoes were anti-establishment, 736 00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:54,600 you know what I'm saying? 737 00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:56,920 So, the hood is anti-establishment. 738 00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:00,880 It's almost like they were made to be for each other. 739 00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:02,800 Knight: The ban helped, no question about it. 740 00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:05,560 I mean Rob Strasser wrote David a thank-you note. 741 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:07,480 And as Rob was leaving his office, 742 00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:10,400 he said, "I have one thing to ask that you do." 743 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:12,200 And Rob turns around, and says, "What?" 744 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:14,080 "Can you send me a pair of the banned shoes? 745 00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:16,320 My son wants them. He thinks I'm a jerk." 746 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:19,800 [ Laughs ] 747 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:22,160 Bengtson: The Air Jordan was something that kind of transcended 748 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:23,840 all these different borders 749 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:26,280 that hadn't really been transcended before. 750 00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:29,160 The fact that it comes out after he plays in the All-Star game, 751 00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:31,320 after he's in his first dunk contest, 752 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:34,360 by the time that shoe finally hit the market, 753 00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:36,400 they were just gone. 754 00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:39,240 Knight: I think we sold over a million pairs of shoes in one year, 755 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:41,720 which is -- in those days was a lot. 756 00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:44,400 It wasn't started slowly and built to a big fire. 757 00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:46,440 It started as a giant fire. 758 00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:50,120 I mean, it just was -- there was a big fire from day one. 759 00:33:50,120 --> 00:33:51,920 Flight Attendant: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. 760 00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:54,400 Welcome to flight 23. 761 00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:56,800 Please make sure your seat belts are securely fashioned, 762 00:33:56,800 --> 00:33:59,440 and extinguish all smoking materials. 763 00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:08,720 Knight: Then, we had done it for the first year. 764 00:34:08,720 --> 00:34:10,920 Then everybody's going, "What are we gonna do now?" 765 00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:13,160 It became so big that we were worried about it -- 766 00:34:13,160 --> 00:34:16,360 just the air would just go out of it. 767 00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:18,400 Bengtson: You know, if the Air Jordan 1 was a shoe 768 00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:20,400 that Nike had to get together in a hurry, 769 00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:23,360 and really rush to get to market, 770 00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:24,760 and get on Jordan's feet, 771 00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:27,200 the Air Jordan 2 was kind of the opposite. 772 00:34:27,200 --> 00:34:30,800 The Air Jordan 2 came along, and it was like, 773 00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:32,400 that shoe was pumping, you know? 774 00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:34,200 It was fly. It was sleek. 775 00:34:34,200 --> 00:34:36,000 It was well-built. It was well-designed. 776 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:37,200 It was the first shoe that didn't have 777 00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:38,480 the Nike swoosh on it. 778 00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:47,000 ♪♪ 779 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:48,480 That was a game-changer, 780 00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:50,560 you know, in terms of, like, my community. 781 00:34:50,560 --> 00:34:52,360 You know, for sneaker connoisseurs and ball players, 782 00:34:52,360 --> 00:34:53,840 like, the Jordan 2 was, like, 783 00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:56,200 "Oh, okay. They got it right now." 784 00:34:56,200 --> 00:35:00,040 Announcer: Air Jordan. It's all in the imagination. 785 00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:03,560 ♪♪ 786 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:06,640 The Air Jordan 2, when it came out, it was a risk 787 00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:09,200 that most sneaker companies back then didn't take, 788 00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:10,800 or wouldn't take. 789 00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:13,000 It was almost twice as expensive. 790 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:14,720 It was made in Italy. 791 00:35:14,720 --> 00:35:17,240 Bengtson: And you could almost look at the Air Jordan 2 -- 792 00:35:17,240 --> 00:35:19,720 even though it came out in 1986, a full decade 793 00:35:19,720 --> 00:35:22,840 before Jordan split off into its own brand -- 794 00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:25,120 being sort of the first sign 795 00:35:25,120 --> 00:35:28,480 that Air Jordan was a thing in and of itself, 796 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:31,280 that didn't necessarily need that Nike swoosh. 797 00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:42,440 Knight: Well, here's the first poster we did with Michael Jordan, 798 00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:48,600 which basically was to announce that he is arriving in Chicago. 799 00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:51,000 This is my favorite shoe of his. 800 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:53,400 And this is the Chicago skyline, 801 00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:58,440 and he's obviously flying over the skyline into the city. 802 00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:01,000 This was one of the interesting things about Michael Jordan. 803 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:05,240 He gave me my own poster for Christmas. 804 00:36:05,240 --> 00:36:07,120 Maybe that's why he's a billionaire. 805 00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:19,480 Now, the brilliant thing about Nike 806 00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:21,360 is that they are a marketing company, 807 00:36:21,360 --> 00:36:22,680 first and foremost. 808 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:24,360 Their relationship with Wieden+Kennedy, 809 00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:27,720 and the ideas behind that is what makes them special. 810 00:36:27,720 --> 00:36:30,280 And Wieden+Kennedy really hadn't stepped in 811 00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:33,880 as a marketing group behind pushing Jordan. 812 00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:36,760 But starting with 3, they did. 813 00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:38,520 A lot of the things that made Jordan special 814 00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:42,040 is that the grassroots aspects of how they approached things. 815 00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:44,040 So, Wieden+Kennedy tapped into that. 816 00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:45,640 What's happening at the grassroots level, 817 00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:47,720 as far as, like, you know, 818 00:36:47,720 --> 00:36:51,320 African American society is concerned? 819 00:36:51,320 --> 00:36:53,200 Who's that new cat? Who has that fresh breath? 820 00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:55,800 What's that new visual? What's that new voice? 821 00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:57,000 And their new voice was in a character 822 00:36:57,000 --> 00:36:58,560 that Spike Lee had created. 823 00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:00,000 You know, when he did with his first feature film, 824 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:01,280 "She's Gotta Have It." 825 00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:03,520 You know, is there anyway to tap into him" 826 00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:04,960 "She's Gotta Have It" was a love story 827 00:37:04,960 --> 00:37:07,000 not only between Mars Blackmon and Nola Darling, 828 00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:09,760 but between Mars Blackmon and his Air Jordans. 829 00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:11,280 And he sort of couldn't decide between the two. 830 00:37:11,280 --> 00:37:12,800 He kind of wanted to have both. 831 00:37:12,800 --> 00:37:14,320 You know, I think a lot of kids in the eighties 832 00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:15,800 could identify with that. 833 00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:18,080 He knew that before a lot of other people, 834 00:37:18,080 --> 00:37:19,600 you know, which I think is why 835 00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:22,600 Spike was able to become as successful as he did. 836 00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:26,000 And -- you know, and I think Nike and Wieden+Kennedy, 837 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:28,960 and I think it was Jim Riswold at Wieden, who recognized that. 838 00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:30,200 Riswold: It was 1987, 839 00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:32,800 and Bill Davenport and I were down in L.A. 840 00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:36,240 finishing our first spot with Michael Jordan. 841 00:37:36,240 --> 00:37:39,400 And back then, all spots with Nike 842 00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:42,200 seemed to be "show the athlete sweat, 843 00:37:42,200 --> 00:37:44,200 and put a product shot at the end, 844 00:37:44,200 --> 00:37:46,080 and call it a day." 845 00:37:46,080 --> 00:37:48,800 Announcer: Today at Nike, we know even more. 846 00:37:48,800 --> 00:37:51,080 We developed one of the most sophisticated sport 847 00:37:51,080 --> 00:37:54,000 research labs in the world to let us see, 848 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:56,800 in detail, the peculiarities of style, 849 00:37:56,800 --> 00:37:59,200 the dynamics of foot strike. 850 00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:01,960 And at Nike, we're putting that knowledge to work, 851 00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:05,440 making shoes that actually help athletes to run faster. 852 00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:09,080 Riswold: So, we were down there, doing that commercial. 853 00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:10,680 And we went to a movie. 854 00:38:10,680 --> 00:38:13,840 And there was a trailer at the beginning of the move 855 00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:17,560 with a guy we'd never heard of called "Spike Lee," 856 00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:19,760 selling tube socks on the sidewalk. 857 00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:21,440 Three for $5. 858 00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:22,680 Hi. I'm Spike Lee. 859 00:38:22,680 --> 00:38:24,800 When I'm not directing, I do this. 860 00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:27,440 It pays the rent, puts food on the table, 861 00:38:27,440 --> 00:38:29,400 butter on my whole wheat bread. 862 00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:31,040 Anyway, I have this new comedy coming out. 863 00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:33,720 It's a very funny film -- "She's Gotta Have It." 864 00:38:33,720 --> 00:38:35,440 Riswold: That was a great trailer. 865 00:38:35,440 --> 00:38:38,760 So, you get back to Portland, and that movie is playing. 866 00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:43,240 And it's about three men pursuing the same woman. 867 00:38:43,240 --> 00:38:46,760 And one of those men is the Mars Blackmon character. 868 00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:49,280 And he finally gets the time to sleep with 869 00:38:49,280 --> 00:38:52,520 the woman of his dreams, Nola Darling. 870 00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:56,400 And while doing so, he won't take off his Air Jordans. 871 00:38:56,400 --> 00:39:00,120 Blackmon: Stop. Stop. No, stop. Stop. 872 00:39:00,120 --> 00:39:03,840 Knight: He's boffing this girl in bed, and he's wearing Air Jordans. 873 00:39:03,840 --> 00:39:07,520 And I went "Great," you know, "nice promo." 874 00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:10,000 And Bill and I look at each other like 875 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:11,960 "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" 876 00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:15,080 They said, "We ought to do a TV commercial with him." 877 00:39:15,080 --> 00:39:16,600 We called Spike up. 878 00:39:16,600 --> 00:39:19,240 And that was back when he answered his own phone. 879 00:39:19,240 --> 00:39:22,840 "Would you be interested in playing your role, 880 00:39:22,840 --> 00:39:24,520 and directing Michael Jordan 881 00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:27,960 in a series of Mars Blackmon and Michael Jordan commercials?" 882 00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:30,920 And I think we could hear him pee his pants 883 00:39:30,920 --> 00:39:32,240 on the other end of the line. 884 00:39:32,240 --> 00:39:33,720 "Do I get to direct him, too?" 885 00:39:33,720 --> 00:39:35,160 -Nola? -Yes, Mars. 886 00:39:35,160 --> 00:39:36,840 -Nola? -Yes, Mars. 887 00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:40,200 Is it because he do a vicious high-flying 360 slam dunk? 888 00:39:40,200 --> 00:39:42,400 -No, Mars. -Because he's taller than me? 889 00:39:42,400 --> 00:39:44,040 No, Mars. 890 00:39:44,040 --> 00:39:45,800 Because he's loved, adored, and worshiped by millions? 891 00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:48,480 -No, Mars. -Nola, what is it? 892 00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:53,080 It's because he's got the new Air Jordans, Mars. 893 00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:55,200 Oh sweat, oh sweat, oh sweat. 894 00:39:55,200 --> 00:39:56,840 Nike, you got to hook me up. 895 00:39:56,840 --> 00:39:59,200 Spike Lee and the Mars and Mike campaign 896 00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:00,640 of the 1980s, 897 00:40:00,640 --> 00:40:02,400 playing the character Mars Blackmon, of course, 898 00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:05,480 from "She's Gotta Have It," played an integral part of 899 00:40:05,480 --> 00:40:08,720 making Michael Jordan believable 900 00:40:08,720 --> 00:40:11,360 while still having that sense of integrity. 901 00:40:11,360 --> 00:40:13,120 And I think Nike knew that. 902 00:40:13,120 --> 00:40:14,960 Bengtson: You know, you had this ready-made character, 903 00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:16,960 you know, and he could come in and do these commercials, 904 00:40:16,960 --> 00:40:18,520 which were amazing for their day. 905 00:40:18,520 --> 00:40:20,480 You know, it's like, you go back and look at, say, 906 00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:22,080 Converse, with the Weapon. 907 00:40:22,080 --> 00:40:24,400 They had all these guys, like, do a rap commercial. 908 00:40:24,400 --> 00:40:26,720 ♪ For the kind of moves that never fail ♪ 909 00:40:26,720 --> 00:40:29,000 ♪ The Weapon's the choice of Kevin McHale ♪ 910 00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:31,200 ♪ The same is true for Mark Aguirre ♪ 911 00:40:31,200 --> 00:40:33,360 ♪ When I wear Weapons, I'm on fire ♪ 912 00:40:33,360 --> 00:40:35,400 ♪ But what can the weapons do for King? ♪ 913 00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:37,280 ♪ Why, I can do just about anything ♪ 914 00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:38,880 ♪ You already know what they did for me ♪ 915 00:40:38,880 --> 00:40:40,160 ALL: What? 916 00:40:40,160 --> 00:40:41,600 ♪ I walked away with the MVP ♪ 917 00:40:41,600 --> 00:40:42,960 Announcer: Converse Weapon -- 918 00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:45,280 The number-one weapon in the NBA. 919 00:40:45,280 --> 00:40:49,000 And it's like, you're just being too literal, almost. You know? 920 00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:51,720 And Spike and Mars, they're coming out 921 00:40:51,720 --> 00:40:53,240 doing these black-and-white ads, 922 00:40:53,240 --> 00:40:55,960 and like, they were debuted during all-star weekend. 923 00:40:55,960 --> 00:40:58,160 And, you know, I remember getting ready 924 00:40:58,160 --> 00:40:59,760 to watch the NBA all-star game, 925 00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:02,200 and, like, I was excited about the dunk contest. 926 00:41:02,200 --> 00:41:04,000 But I was super excited 927 00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:06,520 that there would be a new Air Jordan commercial. 928 00:41:06,520 --> 00:41:08,960 Oh, money, money, why you want to do that to me? 929 00:41:08,960 --> 00:41:11,120 Why you leave me hanging? 930 00:41:11,120 --> 00:41:12,680 I got it. 931 00:41:12,680 --> 00:41:14,440 Oh. 932 00:41:14,440 --> 00:41:18,440 The big thing about what that campaign taught us was, again, 933 00:41:18,440 --> 00:41:20,960 that you could have fun with this stuff, 934 00:41:20,960 --> 00:41:25,240 and to look at the athlete as, like -- 935 00:41:25,240 --> 00:41:28,200 this sounds crass, but as the product. 936 00:41:28,200 --> 00:41:30,560 What makes this person unique? 937 00:41:30,560 --> 00:41:34,880 Why could only Jordan be in that campaign with Mars Blackmon? 938 00:41:34,880 --> 00:41:37,440 Yo, Mike, what made you the best player in the universe? 939 00:41:37,440 --> 00:41:39,080 Is it the vicious dunks? 940 00:41:39,080 --> 00:41:41,040 -No, Mars. -Is it the haircut? 941 00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:43,240 -No, Mars. -Is it the shoes? 942 00:41:43,240 --> 00:41:44,800 No, Mars. 943 00:41:44,800 --> 00:41:46,400 Knight: The big thing in marketing of these shoes 944 00:41:46,400 --> 00:41:49,680 is that you've got to let the kid know that you get it. 945 00:41:49,680 --> 00:41:52,000 But you can't do it in an obvious, stupid way. 946 00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:54,640 You've got to do it in a subliminal way. 947 00:41:54,640 --> 00:41:55,880 You sure it's not the shoes? 948 00:41:55,880 --> 00:41:57,080 I'm sure, Mars. 949 00:41:57,080 --> 00:41:59,120 -What about the shoes? -No, Mars. 950 00:41:59,120 --> 00:42:01,400 Using Spike Lee, that's what that did. 951 00:42:01,400 --> 00:42:03,680 And you just knew right there, just to see that, 952 00:42:03,680 --> 00:42:07,480 and that magic, you just went, "This is gonna work. 953 00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:08,960 We're blessed." 954 00:42:08,960 --> 00:42:10,760 That's exactly what I told Wieden 955 00:42:10,760 --> 00:42:12,360 when I called him after we were done shooting this. 956 00:42:12,360 --> 00:42:15,800 I said, "Wieden all I can tell you is, 'we're blessed.'" 957 00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:18,840 Jackson: And the nine commercials they did for the 3, 958 00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:22,080 the 4, and the 5 -- brilliant. 959 00:42:22,080 --> 00:42:24,040 It's just brilliant marketing, man. 960 00:42:24,040 --> 00:42:25,400 You know, and for Wieden+Kennedy 961 00:42:25,400 --> 00:42:27,400 to let Spike just do his thing. 962 00:42:27,400 --> 00:42:29,840 You know, and let Spike and Mars and Michael 963 00:42:29,840 --> 00:42:32,320 develop a relationship. 964 00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:34,600 It worked. It worked beautifully. 965 00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:37,080 Yo, professor, how does Mike defy gravity? 966 00:42:37,080 --> 00:42:39,280 Do you know? Do you know? Do you know? Do you know? 967 00:42:39,280 --> 00:42:41,600 Michael Jordan overcomes the acceleration of gravity 968 00:42:41,600 --> 00:42:44,400 by the application of his muscle power in the vertical plain, 969 00:42:44,400 --> 00:42:47,960 thus producing a low altitude Earth orbit. 970 00:42:47,960 --> 00:42:50,240 A what? -Do you know what I mean? 971 00:42:50,240 --> 00:42:54,000 Do you know? Do you know? Do you know? 972 00:42:54,000 --> 00:42:56,880 Knight: What the hell is Nike doing? 973 00:42:56,880 --> 00:43:01,000 This wasn't Spike 40 years later, 974 00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:02,640 winning academy awards, 975 00:43:02,640 --> 00:43:05,000 and becoming one of the greatest directors in the world. 976 00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:07,960 This was Spike as a young guy, you know, coming right off of 977 00:43:07,960 --> 00:43:10,200 "Do The Right Thing," and all these things, 978 00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:13,640 where America, again, was in unrest. 979 00:43:13,640 --> 00:43:15,720 We're in now the eighties. 980 00:43:15,720 --> 00:43:18,200 And we're putting a black guy on television 981 00:43:18,200 --> 00:43:19,880 to sell shoes to white America. 982 00:43:19,880 --> 00:43:22,840 Most sneaker heads will look at those spots, 983 00:43:22,840 --> 00:43:26,800 and say those are the best basketball commercials ever. 984 00:43:26,800 --> 00:43:32,000 And I really think those ads reshaped Nike advertising. 985 00:43:32,000 --> 00:43:35,400 And I think it introduced Nike into popular culture, 986 00:43:35,400 --> 00:43:38,440 rather than just the top pyramid of, you know, 987 00:43:38,440 --> 00:43:40,200 high-performance athletes. 988 00:43:40,200 --> 00:43:43,280 I mean, this was the Nike for the rest of us. 989 00:43:43,280 --> 00:43:46,840 See, that's the thing that really happened, was Spike Lee. 990 00:43:46,840 --> 00:43:50,840 Spike Lee, in my opinion, 991 00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:56,040 is the father of what you call this sneaker culture. 992 00:43:56,040 --> 00:43:58,360 He would be the father. 993 00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:03,560 Because no Spike, no commercials about the shoes. 994 00:44:03,560 --> 00:44:04,760 Let me repeat myself. 995 00:44:04,760 --> 00:44:05,960 This you can buy. 996 00:44:05,960 --> 00:44:07,160 You cannot do this. 997 00:44:07,160 --> 00:44:09,120 Can. Can't. 998 00:44:09,120 --> 00:44:11,520 Can. 999 00:44:11,520 --> 00:44:14,880 Kent: It ain't the shoes, it's Michael Jordan, but no. 1000 00:44:14,880 --> 00:44:18,280 You believe, now, it's the shoes. 1001 00:44:18,280 --> 00:44:20,160 Spike Lee happened. 1002 00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:21,440 When he got in "Do The Right Thing," 1003 00:44:21,440 --> 00:44:23,840 and said "my sneakers are broke," 1004 00:44:23,840 --> 00:44:26,400 the sneakers were a character. 1005 00:44:26,400 --> 00:44:28,360 Yo! 1006 00:44:28,360 --> 00:44:29,720 Man: Yeah? 1007 00:44:36,760 --> 00:44:38,000 Yo, you almost knocked me down, man. 1008 00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:39,240 The word is "excuse me." 1009 00:44:39,240 --> 00:44:41,000 Oh, excuse me. I'm sorry. 1010 00:44:41,000 --> 00:44:42,920 Not only just that but now you stood on my brand-new [bleep] 1011 00:44:42,920 --> 00:44:44,520 Air Jordans that I just [bleep] bought. 1012 00:44:44,520 --> 00:44:46,320 And that's all you can say, is "excuse me"? 1013 00:44:46,320 --> 00:44:47,800 -What you [bleep] serious? -Yeah, I'm serious. 1014 00:44:47,800 --> 00:44:49,000 I'll [bleep] you up quick two times. 1015 00:44:49,000 --> 00:44:50,280 Two times. 1016 00:44:50,280 --> 00:44:51,520 Who told you to step on my sneakers? 1017 00:44:51,520 --> 00:44:53,920 Yo, man, your Jordans are [bleep] up. 1018 00:44:53,920 --> 00:44:56,560 Damn, man, you might have to throw them kicks out. 1019 00:44:56,560 --> 00:44:59,280 "You broke my Jordans 'cause you stepped on them." 1020 00:44:59,280 --> 00:45:03,400 Not "You broke my sneakers," "You broke my Jordans." 1021 00:45:03,400 --> 00:45:05,120 The Jordans became a character. 1022 00:45:05,120 --> 00:45:07,960 Knight: I asked Michael later about the Spike Lee time. 1023 00:45:07,960 --> 00:45:09,680 He liked the guy. He thought he was okay. 1024 00:45:09,680 --> 00:45:11,640 He didn't particularly think the commercials were any good, 1025 00:45:11,640 --> 00:45:13,440 but he thought the guy was funny. 1026 00:45:15,600 --> 00:45:19,200 Action. Spike Lee. 1027 00:45:19,200 --> 00:45:21,120 No one did for marketing 1028 00:45:21,120 --> 00:45:24,320 what Nike and Michael did for marketing. 1029 00:45:24,320 --> 00:45:25,920 Nobody. 1030 00:45:25,920 --> 00:45:29,080 Bengtson: I mean, he became the face of everything. 1031 00:45:29,080 --> 00:45:31,280 Falk: We weren't trying to do anything 1032 00:45:31,280 --> 00:45:34,080 other than take advantage of his personality. 1033 00:45:34,080 --> 00:45:35,480 So, his first three deals, 1034 00:45:35,480 --> 00:45:36,880 as someone who starred in the Olympics, 1035 00:45:36,880 --> 00:45:39,200 were Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and Chevrolet. 1036 00:45:39,200 --> 00:45:41,680 I mean, you can't get any more all-American than that. 1037 00:45:41,680 --> 00:45:43,520 And the fact that he was African American 1038 00:45:43,520 --> 00:45:45,240 broke all the barriers. 1039 00:45:45,240 --> 00:45:48,520 Williams: Jordan was this 6'6" black man with a bald head, 1040 00:45:48,520 --> 00:45:50,280 very dark-skinned, dark-complected. 1041 00:45:50,280 --> 00:45:53,040 That same guy without the name Michael Jordan 1042 00:45:53,040 --> 00:45:55,360 walking down the streets of suburban America 1043 00:45:55,360 --> 00:45:57,040 would have been seen as a threat. 1044 00:45:57,040 --> 00:46:00,040 And so, how were they able to make him not intimidating? 1045 00:46:00,040 --> 00:46:03,800 So, they had these kind of Jordan rules of marketing in, 1046 00:46:03,800 --> 00:46:05,200 you know, the way they showed him. 1047 00:46:05,200 --> 00:46:08,200 They embodied why Jordan was able to penetrate, 1048 00:46:08,200 --> 00:46:10,640 and get into white America, because he made white America 1049 00:46:10,640 --> 00:46:13,800 feel as if he was just like them. 1050 00:46:13,800 --> 00:46:17,360 And I think Nike, Hanes, Ballpark, Gatorade 1051 00:46:17,360 --> 00:46:20,560 did a fabulous job of really crafting this brand 1052 00:46:20,560 --> 00:46:24,760 to a lot of white people to accept him into their homes. 1053 00:46:28,960 --> 00:46:33,240 Williams: He made white America feel as if he was just like them. 1054 00:46:33,240 --> 00:46:36,840 And I think Nike, Hanes, Ballpark, Gatorade 1055 00:46:36,840 --> 00:46:40,000 did a fabulous job of really crafting this brand 1056 00:46:40,000 --> 00:46:42,600 to a lot of white people to accept him into their homes. 1057 00:46:42,600 --> 00:46:45,360 Woman: Michael Jordan used to be a superstar. 1058 00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:46,800 Now I'm an Ultra Star. 1059 00:46:46,800 --> 00:46:50,200 -Ultra soft... -Is Ultra Star. 1060 00:46:50,200 --> 00:46:53,520 -Ultra clean... -Is Ultra Star. 1061 00:46:53,520 --> 00:46:55,920 Announcer: The ultra in men's haircare. 1062 00:46:55,920 --> 00:46:57,480 -Ultra sexy. 1063 00:46:57,480 --> 00:46:59,600 -He's Ultra Star. 1064 00:46:59,600 --> 00:47:03,840 Jackson: You know, so to see a young black dude come into that space, 1065 00:47:03,840 --> 00:47:06,200 and be able to sell America about everything, 1066 00:47:06,200 --> 00:47:08,800 and make it believable was, 1067 00:47:08,800 --> 00:47:12,800 you know, areas uncharted for us. 1068 00:47:12,800 --> 00:47:15,560 You know, Ali was huge, you know, for us. 1069 00:47:15,560 --> 00:47:17,360 Jackie Robinson was huge for us. 1070 00:47:17,360 --> 00:47:20,600 Reggie Jackson was massive, you know, for a black community. 1071 00:47:20,600 --> 00:47:22,520 But at some point, there was still a disconnect 1072 00:47:22,520 --> 00:47:24,120 between, you know, general America -- 1073 00:47:24,120 --> 00:47:26,960 especially white America -- and those athletes. 1074 00:47:26,960 --> 00:47:29,000 You know, a lot of times, you had to remove the blackness 1075 00:47:29,000 --> 00:47:30,360 for them to remove the blackness 1076 00:47:30,360 --> 00:47:31,760 in order for them to see this person 1077 00:47:31,760 --> 00:47:33,800 as being what they would say just American. 1078 00:47:33,800 --> 00:47:35,720 Ever need to rent a car fast? 1079 00:47:35,720 --> 00:47:39,680 ♪ Nobody does it better ♪ 1080 00:47:39,680 --> 00:47:41,680 In order for America to accept that black person, 1081 00:47:41,680 --> 00:47:44,680 there had to be some level of this person 1082 00:47:44,680 --> 00:47:46,760 conforming to the other side, 1083 00:47:46,760 --> 00:47:48,280 and distancing themselves 1084 00:47:48,280 --> 00:47:51,160 from their quote, unquote "blackness." 1085 00:47:51,160 --> 00:47:52,960 Nobody has more of what it takes to get you 1086 00:47:52,960 --> 00:47:57,040 into a new LTV or other fine car faster. 1087 00:47:57,040 --> 00:48:00,480 For the non-African American side of this country 1088 00:48:00,480 --> 00:48:04,160 to accept him, and find comfort in who he was. 1089 00:48:04,160 --> 00:48:06,960 And I think it also came with a sense of authenticity 1090 00:48:06,960 --> 00:48:08,400 that Michael didn't try to sell himself 1091 00:48:08,400 --> 00:48:10,200 out of who he was as a person. 1092 00:48:10,200 --> 00:48:13,080 You know, Michael never tried to be something that he wasn't. 1093 00:48:13,080 --> 00:48:14,280 He was like, "You're gonna accept me 1094 00:48:14,280 --> 00:48:16,000 for who I am in America." 1095 00:48:16,000 --> 00:48:21,640 And I think America somehow tapped into that sensibility. 1096 00:48:21,640 --> 00:48:23,680 We tapped into this authenticity. 1097 00:48:23,680 --> 00:48:26,680 You can say a lot of things about Michael Jordan. 1098 00:48:26,680 --> 00:48:29,640 He is by no means Malcolm X, alright? 1099 00:48:29,640 --> 00:48:33,160 He chose to be silent on things. 1100 00:48:33,160 --> 00:48:36,320 But you never sensed that he rejected being black. 1101 00:48:36,320 --> 00:48:38,840 Like, you felt like he was very proud of being black. 1102 00:48:38,840 --> 00:48:41,280 And while I know Jordan will never be considered 1103 00:48:41,280 --> 00:48:43,520 to be some kind of revolutionary, 1104 00:48:43,520 --> 00:48:45,800 what he did, in terms of global marketing, 1105 00:48:45,800 --> 00:48:50,160 and giving other black athletes a blueprint to do that, 1106 00:48:50,160 --> 00:48:52,400 was quite revolutionary. 1107 00:48:52,400 --> 00:48:55,080 And showing other brands that you can put a black face 1108 00:48:55,080 --> 00:48:58,760 on a Fortune 500 company, and make a ton of money. 1109 00:48:58,760 --> 00:49:01,080 I don't want to say his marking is overstated, 1110 00:49:01,080 --> 00:49:03,200 because, obviously, that was a big deal. 1111 00:49:03,200 --> 00:49:05,840 But at the same time, you know, I think it can't be said enough, 1112 00:49:05,840 --> 00:49:08,800 like, what he did on the court 1113 00:49:08,800 --> 00:49:12,120 still was what mattered more than anything. 1114 00:49:12,120 --> 00:49:15,440 If he didn't perform on the court the way he did, 1115 00:49:15,440 --> 00:49:16,800 those shoes wouldn't have sold. 1116 00:49:16,800 --> 00:49:22,200 ♪♪ 1117 00:49:22,200 --> 00:49:25,280 Bengtson: The fact that he came out, and was as good as he was, 1118 00:49:25,280 --> 00:49:27,040 and was as photogenic as he was, 1119 00:49:27,040 --> 00:49:30,960 and was as, you know, transcendent as he was, 1120 00:49:30,960 --> 00:49:32,600 that's what made all the difference. 1121 00:49:32,600 --> 00:49:35,040 Those brilliant ads don't translate 1122 00:49:35,040 --> 00:49:37,160 with Michael Jordan coming off the bench. 1123 00:49:37,160 --> 00:49:39,600 It sure as hell made my job easy. 1124 00:49:39,600 --> 00:49:40,880 I mean, you just watch what he did, 1125 00:49:40,880 --> 00:49:42,400 and then you make a spot about it. 1126 00:49:42,400 --> 00:49:51,000 ♪♪ 1127 00:49:51,000 --> 00:49:53,040 Jackson: If you look at the year Michael had in '88, 1128 00:49:53,040 --> 00:49:54,640 when they released the 3, 1129 00:49:54,640 --> 00:49:57,120 that quietly can be one of the greatest seasons 1130 00:49:57,120 --> 00:49:58,760 anybody has ever had. 1131 00:50:00,840 --> 00:50:02,400 You don't win MVP, 1132 00:50:02,400 --> 00:50:05,480 scoring title, Defensive player of the Year, 1133 00:50:05,480 --> 00:50:08,360 All-star MVP, you know what I'm saying? 1134 00:50:08,360 --> 00:50:11,600 There's nothing else that guy didn't win that year, 1135 00:50:11,600 --> 00:50:15,600 with the exception of a finals MVP and a championship. 1136 00:50:15,600 --> 00:50:18,400 We had never seen a season like that. 1137 00:50:18,400 --> 00:50:20,920 Everything he was doing correlated to those shoes. 1138 00:50:20,920 --> 00:50:22,840 And we bought into that because what was the tag line 1139 00:50:22,840 --> 00:50:24,200 they were selling us? 1140 00:50:24,200 --> 00:50:26,680 "Is it the shoes? Is it the shoes?" 1141 00:50:26,680 --> 00:50:28,760 Mars Blackmon keep ingraining that in our head. 1142 00:50:28,760 --> 00:50:30,240 "Is it the shoes?" 1143 00:50:30,240 --> 00:50:34,160 And that concept played into his entire career, 1144 00:50:34,160 --> 00:50:35,720 as far as his shoes were concerned. 1145 00:50:35,720 --> 00:50:38,160 What did Michael do in those particular shoes? 1146 00:50:38,160 --> 00:50:41,200 And the moments he would have in certain shoes 1147 00:50:41,200 --> 00:50:44,600 became their own quote, unquote, "phenomenon." 1148 00:50:44,600 --> 00:50:48,040 Every ring he won attached themselves to the shoes 1149 00:50:48,040 --> 00:50:50,120 he was wearing when he won those rings. 1150 00:50:50,120 --> 00:50:54,400 In the early nineties, he began challenging for the NBA title. 1151 00:50:54,400 --> 00:50:56,600 He began winning on a big level. 1152 00:50:56,600 --> 00:51:06,160 ♪♪ 1153 00:51:06,160 --> 00:51:15,680 ♪♪ 1154 00:51:15,680 --> 00:51:17,200 Jackson: What Michael Jordan was able to do 1155 00:51:17,200 --> 00:51:20,640 on the backs of Julius Erving and Bird and Magic 1156 00:51:20,640 --> 00:51:23,360 was take it to that Babe Ruth place, 1157 00:51:23,360 --> 00:51:27,560 where basketball basically had become ingrained 1158 00:51:27,560 --> 00:51:30,680 in the country's entire consciousness 1159 00:51:30,680 --> 00:51:32,880 to put it in a stratosphere 1160 00:51:32,880 --> 00:51:35,720 that we didn't know this game could exist. 1161 00:51:35,720 --> 00:51:37,760 That's what he was able to do. 1162 00:51:37,760 --> 00:51:40,640 Telander: I mean, when I was following the Bulls, there, at the end -- 1163 00:51:40,640 --> 00:51:42,320 you know, I've been around rock bands too, 1164 00:51:42,320 --> 00:51:44,120 but when I'm following, there, at the end, 1165 00:51:44,120 --> 00:51:47,360 it was like what the Beetles were -- people screaming. 1166 00:51:47,360 --> 00:51:49,840 And then, you had Michael Jordan. 1167 00:51:49,840 --> 00:51:53,960 You had Paul and John rolled into one. 1168 00:51:53,960 --> 00:51:55,800 Jackson: It was equivalent to, like, you know, 1169 00:51:55,800 --> 00:51:58,520 what is the Isley Brothers' next album? 1170 00:51:58,520 --> 00:52:00,400 What's the next Stevie Wonder project? 1171 00:52:00,400 --> 00:52:02,520 What's Michael Jackson gonna follow up, 1172 00:52:02,520 --> 00:52:05,000 you know, "Thriller" with? 1173 00:52:05,000 --> 00:52:06,600 That's what Jordan was like. 1174 00:52:06,600 --> 00:52:08,520 You know, alright, it was on that level. 1175 00:52:08,520 --> 00:52:11,000 You know, it was sort of a time when a lot of 1176 00:52:11,000 --> 00:52:14,840 African American contributions became much more mainstream. 1177 00:52:14,840 --> 00:52:17,040 You know, you had Prince. You had Michael Jackson. 1178 00:52:17,040 --> 00:52:18,240 You know, and Michael Jordan, 1179 00:52:18,240 --> 00:52:21,200 he was basketball's version of that. 1180 00:52:21,200 --> 00:52:22,640 Williams: You saw Jordan everywhere. 1181 00:52:22,640 --> 00:52:24,680 He had so many brand associations. 1182 00:52:24,680 --> 00:52:28,400 And so, it made you want to be like Jordan. 1183 00:52:28,400 --> 00:52:31,320 And so, you had kids trying to emulate him, 1184 00:52:31,320 --> 00:52:33,160 you know, in everything they did -- 1185 00:52:33,160 --> 00:52:34,920 not just on the basketball courts, 1186 00:52:34,920 --> 00:52:37,720 on the streets, but also in their life. 1187 00:52:37,720 --> 00:52:39,400 And the Jordan brand, the sneaker, 1188 00:52:39,400 --> 00:52:41,480 it really allowed us to be able to do that 1189 00:52:41,480 --> 00:52:43,360 for the first time. 1190 00:52:43,360 --> 00:52:46,000 Telander: We recognized something in Michael Jordan instinctively, 1191 00:52:46,000 --> 00:52:48,200 that this was beauty, and that I wanted some of that. 1192 00:52:48,200 --> 00:52:49,680 How can I get close to it? 1193 00:52:49,680 --> 00:52:51,080 How can I get ahold of this? 1194 00:52:51,080 --> 00:52:52,920 So, with this rampant consumerism, 1195 00:52:52,920 --> 00:52:55,960 the shoes that had never been marketed this way, 1196 00:52:55,960 --> 00:52:57,600 the advertisement they had, 1197 00:52:57,600 --> 00:53:00,840 you said, "Damn, man, I can't be Michael Jordan 1198 00:53:00,840 --> 00:53:04,000 but I can have this piece of what he represents." 1199 00:53:04,000 --> 00:53:05,920 Williams: I mean, you think about its impact on even, 1200 00:53:05,920 --> 00:53:08,200 you know, pop culture and hip hop. 1201 00:53:08,200 --> 00:53:11,920 I mean, it's hard press to find any rapper's catalog, 1202 00:53:11,920 --> 00:53:14,800 and he doesn't mention Jordan at some point. 1203 00:53:14,800 --> 00:53:17,360 You think about probably the most beloved black sitcom 1204 00:53:17,360 --> 00:53:19,400 of the 1990s, "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." 1205 00:53:19,400 --> 00:53:21,880 Right there in the opening credits, what is he wearing? 1206 00:53:21,880 --> 00:53:24,800 You know, the Jordan shoe, I believe it was the Jordan 5. 1207 00:53:24,800 --> 00:53:27,120 ♪ Now, this is a story all about how ♪ 1208 00:53:27,120 --> 00:53:29,560 ♪ My life got flipped turned upside down ♪ 1209 00:53:29,560 --> 00:53:31,920 ♪ And I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there ♪ 1210 00:53:31,920 --> 00:53:34,800 ♪ I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel-Air ♪ 1211 00:53:34,800 --> 00:53:38,400 And also, what had happened in the last 20 years 1212 00:53:38,400 --> 00:53:40,160 are the shoe collectors. 1213 00:53:40,160 --> 00:53:43,160 And it became fanatical to get them. 1214 00:53:43,160 --> 00:53:46,000 Powell: So, the retro is really based on products 1215 00:53:46,000 --> 00:53:48,200 that emulate the original product. 1216 00:53:48,200 --> 00:53:51,520 We don't make shoes like we did in 1985 any longer. 1217 00:53:51,520 --> 00:53:54,360 So, we can't make the shoe exactly like it was 1218 00:53:54,360 --> 00:53:55,960 with the Jordan 1. 1219 00:53:55,960 --> 00:53:58,720 But we make shoes that look like the Jordan 1. 1220 00:53:58,720 --> 00:54:00,280 So, when we talk about a retro shoe, 1221 00:54:00,280 --> 00:54:03,160 it's a shoe that's very close to the original product. 1222 00:54:03,160 --> 00:54:06,680 And the bulk of the Jordan sales were coming out of retro. 1223 00:54:06,680 --> 00:54:12,800 I mean, I'm confounded by the rapidity of the whole thing. 1224 00:54:21,680 --> 00:54:25,280 I believe I'm the biggest collector of Air Jordan shoes 1225 00:54:25,280 --> 00:54:26,920 in the United States. 1226 00:54:26,920 --> 00:54:32,080 Currently, I have 1,175 shoes in my collection. 1227 00:54:32,080 --> 00:54:33,680 They start in a corner back there, 1228 00:54:33,680 --> 00:54:35,800 and they just come all the way around by the numbers. 1229 00:54:35,800 --> 00:54:38,720 I have some spaces in between. 1230 00:54:38,720 --> 00:54:41,480 If I pick up new shoes, I won't have to just move 1231 00:54:41,480 --> 00:54:43,200 all of the cases all the way around. 1232 00:54:43,200 --> 00:54:45,880 But my favorites are the 8s. 1233 00:54:45,880 --> 00:54:47,600 I call them "the great 8s." 1234 00:54:47,600 --> 00:54:52,600 That was his greatest playoff season of the six championships. 1235 00:54:52,600 --> 00:54:55,520 Back in 1985, I was in college. 1236 00:54:55,520 --> 00:55:01,000 I had watched MJ from 1981, and he went to the NBA. 1237 00:55:01,000 --> 00:55:04,360 And then, I saw these red and white shoes. 1238 00:55:04,360 --> 00:55:06,800 That was the first shoe I bought with my own money. 1239 00:55:06,800 --> 00:55:09,640 I wear them on the first of every year. 1240 00:55:09,640 --> 00:55:11,320 They are from 1985. 1241 00:55:11,320 --> 00:55:13,400 $65. 1242 00:55:13,400 --> 00:55:15,800 That was the price. But back then, $65, 1243 00:55:15,800 --> 00:55:19,880 this was the most expensive basketball shoe in 1985. 1244 00:55:19,880 --> 00:55:23,800 Everything that has come after these was because of this. 1245 00:55:23,800 --> 00:55:28,600 And you know, I have the Jumpman tattoo on my arm. 1246 00:55:28,600 --> 00:55:31,920 It's his style of play. It's his passion. 1247 00:55:31,920 --> 00:55:35,400 And it's also what he did as a basketball player 1248 00:55:35,400 --> 00:55:39,000 in these shoes, you know, is what means a lot to me. 1249 00:55:39,000 --> 00:55:42,400 And for me, it's more than just the shoes, you know? 1250 00:55:42,400 --> 00:55:44,200 It's the memorabilia, too. 1251 00:55:44,200 --> 00:55:47,600 I have the Wheaties boxes, and... 1252 00:55:47,600 --> 00:55:48,880 [ Rattles ] 1253 00:55:48,880 --> 00:55:50,920 I never took the seal off of it. 1254 00:55:50,920 --> 00:55:52,960 It was just a collector's piece to me. 1255 00:55:52,960 --> 00:55:56,400 And now, I have 18 different boxes, 1256 00:55:56,400 --> 00:55:59,840 from the mini boxes to the big boxes. 1257 00:55:59,840 --> 00:56:03,720 And I've been offered tens of thousands of dollars 1258 00:56:03,720 --> 00:56:06,000 just for these cereal boxes. 1259 00:56:06,000 --> 00:56:08,000 Original Gatorade bottle. 1260 00:56:08,000 --> 00:56:10,600 This has been here since 1992. 1261 00:56:10,600 --> 00:56:12,480 Never popped the top on it. 1262 00:56:12,480 --> 00:56:15,200 Wouldn't recommend drinking this. 1263 00:56:15,200 --> 00:56:19,000 I've been doing this for, you know, 33-plus years. 1264 00:56:19,000 --> 00:56:20,320 I don't get free stuff. 1265 00:56:20,320 --> 00:56:21,960 This is stuff that I've bought. 1266 00:56:21,960 --> 00:56:23,720 This is all blood, sweat, and tears. 1267 00:56:23,720 --> 00:56:27,080 This is something that I've taken on since 1985, 1268 00:56:27,080 --> 00:56:28,400 that I like to do. 1269 00:56:28,400 --> 00:56:30,040 I like to change shoes. 1270 00:56:30,040 --> 00:56:32,760 Sometimes, I change my shoes three or four times a day, 1271 00:56:32,760 --> 00:56:35,240 just so I can get a chance to wear everything. 1272 00:56:35,240 --> 00:56:39,560 But 1,175 pairs, I might not get to wear a shoe again 1273 00:56:39,560 --> 00:56:41,320 for three years. 1274 00:56:41,320 --> 00:56:44,160 The insurance policy for my entire collection, 1275 00:56:44,160 --> 00:56:46,680 everything -- shoes, memorabilia, everything -- 1276 00:56:46,680 --> 00:56:49,280 is over $1 million. 1277 00:56:49,280 --> 00:56:54,400 It's just so much history and passion behind collecting shoes 1278 00:56:54,400 --> 00:56:58,320 that I'm in it till the end. 1279 00:56:58,320 --> 00:56:59,760 I'm not gonna stop. 1280 00:56:59,760 --> 00:57:01,200 Salman: I mean, it's addiction. 1281 00:57:01,200 --> 00:57:03,640 It's -- You know, anybody who does stuff like that, 1282 00:57:03,640 --> 00:57:05,480 it's partially addiction. 1283 00:57:05,480 --> 00:57:06,720 You know, it could be good, it could be bad, 1284 00:57:06,720 --> 00:57:07,920 but it's an addiction. 1285 00:57:07,920 --> 00:57:09,360 It becomes a habit. 1286 00:57:09,360 --> 00:57:12,280 It becomes, like, you know, a contest, 1287 00:57:12,280 --> 00:57:14,240 and a competition for a lot of these people. 1288 00:57:14,240 --> 00:57:20,080 ♪♪ 1289 00:57:20,080 --> 00:57:22,640 [ Speaks Japanese ] 1290 00:57:43,200 --> 00:57:46,760 Ruddy: For sure, I haven't worn any of the Jordan 1s here. 1291 00:57:46,760 --> 00:57:48,760 My intent was not to wear them. 1292 00:57:48,760 --> 00:57:52,320 My intent was to make a line-up of the shoes, 1293 00:57:52,320 --> 00:57:56,240 and to have a nice display in my home 1294 00:57:56,240 --> 00:57:59,200 and so that I could watch them after work, 1295 00:57:59,200 --> 00:58:02,120 like you watch TV, and just enjoy. 1296 00:58:02,120 --> 00:58:04,320 The addiction was fueled because of Jordan. 1297 00:58:04,320 --> 00:58:06,560 Jordan is an amazing guy. 1298 00:58:06,560 --> 00:58:07,920 When you look at this box, 1299 00:58:07,920 --> 00:58:10,400 it's hard to keep a box like this, 1300 00:58:10,400 --> 00:58:12,800 for 30 years, in this condition. 1301 00:58:12,800 --> 00:58:15,240 That's the original paper. 1302 00:58:15,240 --> 00:58:17,800 You see? 1303 00:58:17,800 --> 00:58:20,200 You can smell it. You can smell time. 1304 00:58:20,200 --> 00:58:21,880 You can smell history. 1305 00:58:21,880 --> 00:58:25,760 Now, when I tell you I spend $8,000 just for these two shoes. 1306 00:58:25,760 --> 00:58:30,400 Yeah, when I have a set back, I realize, yeah, 1307 00:58:30,400 --> 00:58:35,200 it's out of control to spend that much money. 1308 00:58:35,200 --> 00:58:36,400 Yeah. 1309 00:58:36,400 --> 00:58:38,480 It's this modern American story. 1310 00:58:38,480 --> 00:58:42,040 I mean, you have -- in the turn of the 19th century you had, 1311 00:58:42,040 --> 00:58:43,800 you know, your C.W. Post for Post Cereal 1312 00:58:43,800 --> 00:58:45,520 and your John and Will Kellogg, 1313 00:58:45,520 --> 00:58:48,000 and how they created Kellogg's, and your Milton Hershey's. 1314 00:58:48,000 --> 00:58:49,840 You say Hershey bar, but you're talking about Milton Hershey. 1315 00:58:49,840 --> 00:58:51,360 You're talking about a man. 1316 00:58:51,360 --> 00:58:52,920 You' talking about Ford, you're talking about a man. 1317 00:58:52,920 --> 00:58:55,400 You think about all these brands that we consume, 1318 00:58:55,400 --> 00:58:57,520 and we don't even make them synonymous 1319 00:58:57,520 --> 00:58:59,640 with the people that created them, but they are. 1320 00:58:59,640 --> 00:59:01,160 And now, for the first time, 1321 00:59:01,160 --> 00:59:03,560 black people have that with the Jordan brand. 1322 00:59:03,560 --> 00:59:05,440 And so, I think, what we were able to see 1323 00:59:05,440 --> 00:59:08,720 is something in modern day that we've never seen before. 1324 00:59:08,720 --> 00:59:11,960 Can you really name another black founded 1325 00:59:11,960 --> 00:59:14,160 controlled brand like that? 1326 00:59:14,160 --> 00:59:15,920 That is just synonymous with one name, 1327 00:59:15,920 --> 00:59:17,520 that lives and breathes on it's own? 1328 00:59:17,520 --> 00:59:20,440 I think that's why the African Americans 1329 00:59:20,440 --> 00:59:21,800 love it so much, and they covet it, 1330 00:59:21,800 --> 00:59:24,360 because it's kind of our brand. 1331 00:59:24,360 --> 00:59:25,840 Lazenby: People all over the globe, 1332 00:59:25,840 --> 00:59:28,440 obviously, are collecting these shoes. 1333 00:59:28,440 --> 00:59:30,880 And what happens when things are collected? 1334 00:59:30,880 --> 00:59:34,240 It drives up the value. 1335 00:59:34,240 --> 00:59:36,440 And now, people are taking these Air Jordans, 1336 00:59:36,440 --> 00:59:38,280 they're wearing them with tuxedos. 1337 00:59:38,280 --> 00:59:41,120 Something had happened, and it all filtered through 1338 00:59:41,120 --> 00:59:43,400 the world of Nike 1339 00:59:43,400 --> 00:59:45,400 and the world of Michael Jordan himself. 1340 00:59:45,400 --> 00:59:49,000 And if you're a kid, your status symbol was your $100 sneakers. 1341 00:59:49,000 --> 00:59:52,360 You're not buying something like that to hide it. 1342 00:59:52,360 --> 00:59:56,600 The shoes gained, very quickly, a huge street value 1343 00:59:56,600 --> 00:59:58,160 in American culture. 1344 00:59:58,160 --> 01:00:02,080 And so, suddenly, it spawned violence and robbery. 1345 01:00:02,080 --> 01:00:04,200 Hill: The demand of his product, 1346 01:00:04,200 --> 01:00:05,920 and products with his name on it, 1347 01:00:05,920 --> 01:00:09,760 had reached a point where crimes were basically being committed 1348 01:00:09,760 --> 01:00:13,120 to obtain product that he was selling. 1349 01:00:16,160 --> 01:00:18,760 Telander: There's always been style, and there's always been people 1350 01:00:18,760 --> 01:00:20,560 wanting to keep up with the Jones's. 1351 01:00:20,560 --> 01:00:22,800 I mean, you can go back to caveman era, 1352 01:00:22,800 --> 01:00:25,800 you know, somebody's got a cooler cheetah-skin belt on, 1353 01:00:25,800 --> 01:00:27,520 or loin cloth. 1354 01:00:27,520 --> 01:00:29,640 If you want that, you might take a club, and whack him for it. 1355 01:00:29,640 --> 01:00:31,200 But here we are, in a civilized society, 1356 01:00:31,200 --> 01:00:33,360 and the Jumpman logo of the Air Jordans 1357 01:00:33,360 --> 01:00:36,680 had become so important as a status symbol -- 1358 01:00:36,680 --> 01:00:39,320 kids, teenagers are seeing this status symbol, 1359 01:00:39,320 --> 01:00:41,560 and they're actually killing each other for these -- 1360 01:00:41,560 --> 01:00:42,760 for shoes. 1361 01:00:42,760 --> 01:00:44,480 I mean, the thing I remember best 1362 01:00:44,480 --> 01:00:47,560 is still Rick Telander's cover story in Sports Illustrated. 1363 01:00:47,560 --> 01:00:50,120 I feel like the sneakers were a focal point 1364 01:00:50,120 --> 01:00:53,200 because it was something relatively new. 1365 01:00:53,200 --> 01:00:55,040 Telander: I think I've got it in here somewhere. 1366 01:00:55,040 --> 01:00:57,760 I keep all my Sports Illustrated files up here. 1367 01:00:57,760 --> 01:01:00,560 So, that was 1990. 1368 01:01:00,560 --> 01:01:04,320 Well, I remember the shocking aspect of this cover. 1369 01:01:04,320 --> 01:01:05,920 You have to look at it. 1370 01:01:05,920 --> 01:01:07,360 It's so dark, and you can't tell what you're looking at. 1371 01:01:07,360 --> 01:01:09,040 And then, you realize it's a guy with a gun, 1372 01:01:09,040 --> 01:01:12,320 he's grabbing the shoes that are hanging over the shoulder. 1373 01:01:12,320 --> 01:01:16,560 I haven't looked at this article in, I would say, 24 years. 1374 01:01:16,560 --> 01:01:17,760 It's mind-blowing. 1375 01:01:17,760 --> 01:01:20,320 I mean, it really is. 1376 01:01:20,320 --> 01:01:24,880 Is it the shoes? Money? It's got to be the shoes. 1377 01:01:24,880 --> 01:01:28,800 It's Mars Blackmon to Michael Jordan in a Nike commercial. 1378 01:01:28,800 --> 01:01:31,200 "For 15-year-old Michael Eugene Thomas, 1379 01:01:31,200 --> 01:01:33,360 it definitely was the shoes. 1380 01:01:33,360 --> 01:01:35,960 A ninth grader at Meade Senior High School, 1381 01:01:35,960 --> 01:01:40,400 Thomas was found strangled on May 2nd, 1989. 1382 01:01:40,400 --> 01:01:45,000 Charged with first-degree murder was James David Martin, 17, 1383 01:01:45,000 --> 01:01:46,440 a basketball buddy." 1384 01:01:46,440 --> 01:01:49,960 The kid was murdered, and left in the woods 1385 01:01:49,960 --> 01:01:52,040 for a pair of two-week old shoes. 1386 01:01:52,040 --> 01:01:54,840 It's just... 1387 01:01:54,840 --> 01:01:56,320 I don't know. 1388 01:01:56,320 --> 01:01:59,480 It's, you know, within it is something so primitive 1389 01:01:59,480 --> 01:02:02,280 and wrong that it -- it's just obvious. 1390 01:02:02,280 --> 01:02:05,080 But on the other side of it is, what led you to this? 1391 01:02:05,080 --> 01:02:09,320 What led you to think that that status symbol could possibly, 1392 01:02:09,320 --> 01:02:12,160 possibly be worth somebody's life? 1393 01:02:12,160 --> 01:02:13,680 Like so many problems, 1394 01:02:13,680 --> 01:02:15,640 there's an answer that seems very simple. 1395 01:02:15,640 --> 01:02:16,880 Throw the kid away. 1396 01:02:16,880 --> 01:02:19,760 Put him jail, throw the key away. 1397 01:02:19,760 --> 01:02:21,960 And there's answers that are very complex. 1398 01:02:21,960 --> 01:02:24,880 And it's always easy to take the easy answer, 1399 01:02:24,880 --> 01:02:27,520 and just crack down more on the law. 1400 01:02:27,520 --> 01:02:29,440 But how about solving the problems 1401 01:02:29,440 --> 01:02:31,800 that lead somebody to this in the first place, 1402 01:02:31,800 --> 01:02:35,480 that would feel so dispossessed that they would think 1403 01:02:35,480 --> 01:02:38,000 that a life is worth somebody's shoes. 1404 01:02:45,240 --> 01:02:47,040 Telander: What led you to this? 1405 01:02:47,040 --> 01:02:50,800 What led you to think that that status symbol could possibly, 1406 01:02:50,800 --> 01:02:53,600 possibly be worth somebody's life. 1407 01:02:53,600 --> 01:02:55,080 Like so many problems, 1408 01:02:55,080 --> 01:02:57,120 there's an answer that seems very simple. 1409 01:02:57,120 --> 01:02:58,360 Throw the kid away. 1410 01:02:58,360 --> 01:03:01,200 Put him jail, throw the key away. 1411 01:03:01,200 --> 01:03:03,400 And there's answers that are very complex. 1412 01:03:03,400 --> 01:03:06,360 And it's always easy to take the easy answer, 1413 01:03:06,360 --> 01:03:09,000 and just crack down more on the law. 1414 01:03:09,000 --> 01:03:10,920 But how about solving the problems 1415 01:03:10,920 --> 01:03:13,240 that lead somebody to this in the first place, 1416 01:03:13,240 --> 01:03:16,960 that would feel so dispossessed that they would think 1417 01:03:16,960 --> 01:03:20,240 that a life is worth somebody's shoes. 1418 01:03:20,240 --> 01:03:21,960 So, it's really a story about scarcity. 1419 01:03:21,960 --> 01:03:25,200 The idea is that the brand sells out every Saturday morning 1420 01:03:25,200 --> 01:03:27,600 when shoes are released, and consumers come back 1421 01:03:27,600 --> 01:03:29,800 the next Saturday for another shot at it. 1422 01:03:29,800 --> 01:03:31,560 And it's interesting we're talking about scarcity 1423 01:03:31,560 --> 01:03:33,240 with a $3 billion brand. 1424 01:03:33,240 --> 01:03:36,600 But they have been able to build this up over time by making sure 1425 01:03:36,600 --> 01:03:39,400 that they never had enough supply to meet the demand. 1426 01:03:39,400 --> 01:03:42,800 Lazenby: Are Nike officials wringing their hands with glee 1427 01:03:42,800 --> 01:03:44,880 over those profits and growth? 1428 01:03:44,880 --> 01:03:46,120 Yes. 1429 01:03:46,120 --> 01:03:48,800 But that becomes very, very awkward 1430 01:03:48,800 --> 01:03:52,400 when you consider the ugly elements of that. 1431 01:03:52,400 --> 01:03:56,720 Once upon a time, not so long ago, shoes were just shoes. 1432 01:03:56,720 --> 01:03:58,840 And basketball shoes were no more glamorous 1433 01:03:58,840 --> 01:04:01,280 than any other piece of sports equipment. 1434 01:04:01,280 --> 01:04:04,480 That was before Michael Jordan learned how to fly. 1435 01:04:04,480 --> 01:04:06,320 When his success went through the roof, 1436 01:04:06,320 --> 01:04:09,240 the shoes he endorsed for Nike went right along with him. 1437 01:04:09,240 --> 01:04:13,480 And now, critics say they are flying just a little too high. 1438 01:04:13,480 --> 01:04:16,600 Air Jordans are expensive, exclusive, and hard enough 1439 01:04:16,600 --> 01:04:22,920 to get that some children lie, steal, even kill for them. 1440 01:04:22,920 --> 01:04:24,360 A boy was robbed after school. 1441 01:04:24,360 --> 01:04:27,560 It turns out, the bandit was after his shoes. 1442 01:04:27,560 --> 01:04:29,720 Woman: Part of the problem is that each store 1443 01:04:29,720 --> 01:04:33,200 has a limited amount of about 150 pairs. 1444 01:04:33,200 --> 01:04:36,880 Male: Reporter: He saw a gun under the guy's shirt, and then a demand. 1445 01:04:36,880 --> 01:04:38,640 Female Reporter: Each pair costs about $180, 1446 01:04:38,640 --> 01:04:42,160 but they resale on eBay for almost $500. 1447 01:04:42,160 --> 01:04:45,160 A neighbor killed him over a pair of Air Jordans. 1448 01:04:45,160 --> 01:04:46,560 He will be buried tomorrow 1449 01:04:46,560 --> 01:04:49,080 on what would have been his 17th birthday. 1450 01:04:49,080 --> 01:04:51,320 Man: Two young men had come home from Willowbrook Mall. 1451 01:04:51,320 --> 01:04:54,240 They had pairs of the new Air Jordan sneakers. 1452 01:04:54,240 --> 01:04:58,240 Two men attacked them with guns as they pulled up to this house. 1453 01:04:58,240 --> 01:05:00,040 One of them jumped out, ran door to door, 1454 01:05:00,040 --> 01:05:01,280 trying to get help, while the other 1455 01:05:01,280 --> 01:05:03,120 jumped into the driver's seat, 1456 01:05:03,120 --> 01:05:06,080 tried to drive away, but he was shot at least once in the head. 1457 01:05:06,080 --> 01:05:08,800 The car careened out of control, hit the side of this house, 1458 01:05:08,800 --> 01:05:12,600 ruptured a gas line, and then the gunman got away. 1459 01:05:12,600 --> 01:05:14,000 All of this, this attack 1460 01:05:14,000 --> 01:05:17,000 was over a pair of those new Jordan shoes. 1461 01:05:17,000 --> 01:05:19,200 Retail value $185. 1462 01:05:19,200 --> 01:05:21,840 That may be the price of a young man's life. 1463 01:05:21,840 --> 01:05:29,440 ♪♪ 1464 01:05:29,440 --> 01:05:32,800 Daisy: My name is Daisy Williams, and this mall here is the mall 1465 01:05:32,800 --> 01:05:36,800 that my son went to purchase his Air Jordan tennis shoes. 1466 01:05:36,800 --> 01:05:39,680 My son left this mall, headed home, 1467 01:05:39,680 --> 01:05:42,040 but he never made it safely home to me. 1468 01:05:44,880 --> 01:05:47,800 Four gentlemen followed him in their own vehicle, 1469 01:05:47,800 --> 01:05:49,640 and they pulled in front of him, 1470 01:05:49,640 --> 01:05:53,360 and got out the car, and demanded the shoes. 1471 01:05:53,360 --> 01:05:56,000 They started shooting at him. 1472 01:05:56,000 --> 01:05:58,880 They shot my son in the head, and he crashed into a home. 1473 01:05:58,880 --> 01:06:04,440 ♪♪ 1474 01:06:04,440 --> 01:06:06,400 This is the scene, right there. 1475 01:06:08,880 --> 01:06:13,080 This is -- oh, this is -- this just brings chills to me. 1476 01:06:13,080 --> 01:06:17,200 I haven't been here -- I haven't been here in a long time. 1477 01:06:17,200 --> 01:06:21,680 There was about 23 shell casings. 1478 01:06:21,680 --> 01:06:23,240 The shoes were on the ground. 1479 01:06:23,240 --> 01:06:25,120 Again, there were a pair of shoes here. 1480 01:06:25,120 --> 01:06:27,280 There were a pair of shoes over there. 1481 01:06:27,280 --> 01:06:31,840 If you Google man shot and killed over Air Jordan sneakers, 1482 01:06:31,840 --> 01:06:37,480 it's an actual video where it shows my son. 1483 01:06:37,480 --> 01:06:39,320 It doesn't show my son sitting in the car, 1484 01:06:39,320 --> 01:06:42,640 but it shows the car still running. 1485 01:06:42,640 --> 01:06:45,640 It shows the ambulance wheeling him around here, 1486 01:06:45,640 --> 01:06:47,000 and putting him in the car. 1487 01:06:47,000 --> 01:06:48,760 and you can hear my daughter screaming, like, 1488 01:06:48,760 --> 01:06:51,200 "Let us -- please let us get in with you." 1489 01:06:54,120 --> 01:06:56,640 [ Indistinct shouting ] 1490 01:06:59,240 --> 01:07:00,480 Woman: I was at home. 1491 01:07:00,480 --> 01:07:02,080 I had just got off the phone with him, 1492 01:07:02,080 --> 01:07:05,640 like five minutes before. Told him I loved him, 1493 01:07:05,640 --> 01:07:07,080 And five minutes later, 1494 01:07:07,080 --> 01:07:10,160 his friend called me, and told me he got shot. 1495 01:07:10,160 --> 01:07:12,400 And when we got to the scene, I just ran up to the car, 1496 01:07:12,400 --> 01:07:14,240 and I seen him. 1497 01:07:14,240 --> 01:07:16,040 And I just kept saying, "Josh, you got to get up. 1498 01:07:16,040 --> 01:07:17,800 It's your sister." 1499 01:07:17,800 --> 01:07:19,920 I just kept saying he had to get up. 1500 01:07:25,000 --> 01:07:26,720 Daisy: And me and my fiance, his father, 1501 01:07:26,720 --> 01:07:28,440 we was standing behind the yellow tape. 1502 01:07:28,440 --> 01:07:30,800 And we say "Let's just see, when they put him on the stretcher, 1503 01:07:30,800 --> 01:07:34,040 will they put the sheet over him." 1504 01:07:34,040 --> 01:07:36,000 'Cause you look at the movies, 1505 01:07:36,000 --> 01:07:39,400 if they put that sheet over him, we know he gone. 1506 01:07:39,400 --> 01:07:41,000 And they took him out. 1507 01:07:41,000 --> 01:07:43,800 They had his face wrapped up. 1508 01:07:43,800 --> 01:07:45,400 But they never put the sheets over him. 1509 01:07:45,400 --> 01:07:47,600 And I was like, "Okay, my son gonna be okay." 1510 01:07:47,600 --> 01:07:48,800 Man: Stay back. 1511 01:07:53,720 --> 01:07:58,120 And we followed the ambulance to the hospital. 1512 01:07:58,120 --> 01:08:04,360 And at 5:35, they pronounced him dead. 1513 01:08:12,400 --> 01:08:14,520 These were the pair of shoes that he was buried in -- 1514 01:08:14,520 --> 01:08:17,520 the Kilroys. 1515 01:08:17,520 --> 01:08:19,480 Me and my mom had to pick out 1516 01:08:19,480 --> 01:08:22,000 what he was gonna be buried in. 1517 01:08:22,000 --> 01:08:23,840 And my brother never wore a suit and tie, 1518 01:08:23,840 --> 01:08:26,240 so it was like, we want him to be buried in something that, 1519 01:08:26,240 --> 01:08:29,120 if he was alive, he would, you know, wear. 1520 01:08:29,120 --> 01:08:31,800 That would just make me feel happy, I guess, 1521 01:08:31,800 --> 01:08:34,400 to be buried in the same shoes that he was buried in. 1522 01:08:34,400 --> 01:08:38,760 And Michael Jordan sent us some shoes, and I have those. 1523 01:08:38,760 --> 01:08:40,200 Well, it's just one pair. 1524 01:08:40,200 --> 01:08:41,920 Man: Hold on, hold on, hold on. 1525 01:08:41,920 --> 01:08:44,080 Michael Jordan sent you shoes? -Yes. 1526 01:08:44,080 --> 01:08:46,560 But it -- to me, it just was like, 1527 01:08:46,560 --> 01:08:48,600 like, if a kid's crying, you give a kid candy, 1528 01:08:48,600 --> 01:08:50,160 they're gonna stop crying. 1529 01:08:50,160 --> 01:08:52,000 I just felt like that's what it -- that's what it was. 1530 01:08:52,000 --> 01:08:54,240 But the shoes that he sent, they were 28s. 1531 01:08:54,240 --> 01:08:55,960 They're black and lime green. 1532 01:08:55,960 --> 01:08:58,560 When he sent us those, they weren't out yet. 1533 01:08:58,560 --> 01:09:00,320 If I was to wear these down the street, 1534 01:09:00,320 --> 01:09:02,400 if people look and say "Well, they not even out yet, 1535 01:09:02,400 --> 01:09:04,640 and she have them," and then I die, 1536 01:09:04,640 --> 01:09:07,280 then my mom has another kid that was buried over -- 1537 01:09:07,280 --> 01:09:09,400 I mean, that was killed over shoes. 1538 01:09:09,400 --> 01:09:12,360 So, I waited until, like, a month 1539 01:09:12,360 --> 01:09:14,400 after they came out to wear them. 1540 01:09:16,440 --> 01:09:19,000 I'm always going back to these pictures. 1541 01:09:19,000 --> 01:09:22,120 This picture was after he purchased his shoes, 1542 01:09:22,120 --> 01:09:23,920 and they were in the car. 1543 01:09:23,920 --> 01:09:27,440 He actually got out the car, and just took a picture of them. 1544 01:09:27,440 --> 01:09:30,680 And they were -- proceeded to head home, 1545 01:09:30,680 --> 01:09:32,960 and not realizing they were being followed 1546 01:09:32,960 --> 01:09:34,480 at that time, actually. 1547 01:09:37,120 --> 01:09:43,840 This is my son's blood in the car. 1548 01:09:43,840 --> 01:09:46,200 Looking at the pictures, I -- I just... 1549 01:09:56,040 --> 01:09:58,800 If you don't mind, if we could stop for a little bit? 1550 01:10:06,640 --> 01:10:11,600 ♪♪ 1551 01:10:11,600 --> 01:10:14,520 Woman: I'm not ready for trial, but I'm just ready for -- 1552 01:10:14,520 --> 01:10:18,080 for them to see us, and know who Josh was, 1553 01:10:18,080 --> 01:10:19,840 and what they took from us. 1554 01:10:19,840 --> 01:10:21,440 All over a pair of shoes. 1555 01:10:23,800 --> 01:10:25,000 Daisy: Alright. Are y'all ready? 1556 01:10:27,360 --> 01:10:29,000 You nervous? 1557 01:10:29,000 --> 01:10:30,800 Just take a deep breath. 1558 01:10:30,800 --> 01:10:34,360 You know, we doing this for Joshua. 1559 01:10:34,360 --> 01:10:36,960 Man: We ask almighty God that you give us the strength. 1560 01:10:36,960 --> 01:10:39,360 We ask that you gives us your spirit. 1561 01:10:39,360 --> 01:10:41,880 Joshua cannot be here with us today. 1562 01:10:41,880 --> 01:10:44,280 We thank you for waking us up, again, once again, 1563 01:10:44,280 --> 01:10:47,440 so that we can be here in his absence, and in his stead. 1564 01:10:47,440 --> 01:10:50,200 We begin with a Houston murder case making national headlines. 1565 01:10:50,200 --> 01:10:53,160 Female Reporter: 22-year-old Joshua Woods was shot and killed 1566 01:10:53,160 --> 01:10:55,800 for his new pair of Air Jordans. 1567 01:10:55,800 --> 01:10:57,920 Male Reporter: Daisy Williams watched with the rest of us 1568 01:10:57,920 --> 01:11:01,200 as the prosecution brought us back to that day in December, 1569 01:11:01,200 --> 01:11:02,760 right before Christmas. 1570 01:11:02,760 --> 01:11:05,800 He raises the, gun and fires, and then fires and fires 1571 01:11:05,800 --> 01:11:07,720 and fires, as the car looses control, 1572 01:11:07,720 --> 01:11:09,400 and crashes into the neighbor's house. 1573 01:11:09,400 --> 01:11:12,160 I mean, it's just ludicrous to think that anybody would take 1574 01:11:12,160 --> 01:11:16,560 another human being's life over pairs of sneakers. 1575 01:11:16,560 --> 01:11:19,400 Daisy: My son is not the first one, and I hope and pray 1576 01:11:19,400 --> 01:11:21,400 to the good lord that he's the last one. 1577 01:11:21,400 --> 01:11:23,400 But we got to do something. 1578 01:11:23,400 --> 01:11:26,720 Nike, they have a responsibility in this. 1579 01:11:26,720 --> 01:11:29,160 And they have to do something. 1580 01:11:29,160 --> 01:11:31,920 And if nothing happens, we'll see more cases like this. 1581 01:11:31,920 --> 01:11:34,200 You'll see more mothers and fathers like me. 1582 01:11:34,200 --> 01:11:35,840 You'll see more mothers and fathers 1583 01:11:35,840 --> 01:11:37,480 like the accused killers. 1584 01:11:37,480 --> 01:11:40,760 The Woods family says that they want Nike to reconsider 1585 01:11:40,760 --> 01:11:42,800 how they market their Air Jordan sneakers, 1586 01:11:42,800 --> 01:11:46,200 so that something like this never happens again. 1587 01:11:46,200 --> 01:11:48,200 Man: And for those who don't understand the process 1588 01:11:48,200 --> 01:11:51,760 by which Nike markets and sells these Air Jordans, 1589 01:11:51,760 --> 01:11:55,480 what they do is, they create a propaganda campaign... 1590 01:11:55,480 --> 01:11:56,680 Is it the shoes? 1591 01:11:56,680 --> 01:11:59,040 Money, it's got to be the shoes. 1592 01:11:59,040 --> 01:12:01,960 ...that stirs up the minds of young people, 1593 01:12:01,960 --> 01:12:04,360 and makes them want these shoes so bad. 1594 01:12:04,360 --> 01:12:06,560 But then, they put out only a few of them. 1595 01:12:06,560 --> 01:12:09,200 Man #2: One pair per customer. 1596 01:12:09,200 --> 01:12:11,360 And it's like, if you have birds, 1597 01:12:11,360 --> 01:12:13,440 let's say, on your porch, 1598 01:12:13,440 --> 01:12:16,800 and you throw out a few seeds. Well, what's going to happen? 1599 01:12:16,800 --> 01:12:18,280 Those birds are hungry. 1600 01:12:18,280 --> 01:12:20,120 If they really want to eat bad enough, 1601 01:12:20,120 --> 01:12:22,200 they'll begin fighting one another. 1602 01:12:22,200 --> 01:12:26,600 And unfortunately, this propaganda scheme by Nike, 1603 01:12:26,600 --> 01:12:29,600 that has been endorsed by Michael Jordan, 1604 01:12:29,600 --> 01:12:34,000 is working on so many inner-city youth across America. 1605 01:12:34,000 --> 01:12:36,720 And in this particular case, it went so far 1606 01:12:36,720 --> 01:12:38,720 that a young man lost his life. 1607 01:12:41,600 --> 01:12:44,000 Daisy: That's a good question. 1608 01:12:44,000 --> 01:12:48,800 I actually extended an invitation to them 1609 01:12:48,800 --> 01:12:50,440 to be here today. 1610 01:12:50,440 --> 01:12:53,080 Unfortunately, I don't see them here. 1611 01:12:53,080 --> 01:12:56,760 Man: Nike is not here because Nike doesn't care. 1612 01:12:56,760 --> 01:13:00,440 Michael Jordan isn't here because he cares even less. 1613 01:13:00,440 --> 01:13:03,280 They will take Joshua Woods' money, 1614 01:13:03,280 --> 01:13:07,120 but when he loses his life for the very shoes 1615 01:13:07,120 --> 01:13:09,200 that he purchased from them, 1616 01:13:09,200 --> 01:13:11,720 all of a sudden, we don't hear from them. 1617 01:13:11,720 --> 01:13:15,160 In corporate America, unfortunately, 1618 01:13:15,160 --> 01:13:19,560 profit is more important than human life. 1619 01:13:19,560 --> 01:13:21,200 And maybe that's trickling down 1620 01:13:21,200 --> 01:13:24,480 into the younger generation here in America, 1621 01:13:24,480 --> 01:13:27,800 why they think that materialism is more important 1622 01:13:27,800 --> 01:13:29,400 than human life. 1623 01:13:31,760 --> 01:13:33,080 Woman: It just hurts. 1624 01:13:33,080 --> 01:13:34,360 'Cause you never think somebody's life 1625 01:13:34,360 --> 01:13:36,520 will be taken over a pair of shoes. 1626 01:13:36,520 --> 01:13:38,400 And it's like, when my daughter gets older, 1627 01:13:38,400 --> 01:13:41,280 and when his son gets older, we have to tell them, 1628 01:13:41,280 --> 01:13:45,000 you know, the real story, like, why he was taken away. 1629 01:13:45,000 --> 01:13:46,680 And that hurts. 1630 01:13:46,680 --> 01:13:49,880 How do you explain to a kid that their father and their uncle 1631 01:13:49,880 --> 01:13:53,040 is gone over a pair of shoes? 1632 01:13:53,040 --> 01:13:54,640 It doesn't make sense. 1633 01:13:58,760 --> 01:14:00,960 Daisy: I was born and raised here in Houston. 1634 01:14:00,960 --> 01:14:02,640 My children, my son and my daughter, 1635 01:14:02,640 --> 01:14:04,320 was born and raised here. 1636 01:14:04,320 --> 01:14:05,520 I didn't ask for this. 1637 01:14:05,520 --> 01:14:07,840 This was brought to me. 1638 01:14:07,840 --> 01:14:13,320 And most people, they wouldn't have survived this. 1639 01:14:13,320 --> 01:14:19,120 I am in no way, shape, or form blaming Nike for my son's death. 1640 01:14:19,120 --> 01:14:21,120 But they can say something. 1641 01:14:21,120 --> 01:14:23,760 If your son, or if your daughter, 1642 01:14:23,760 --> 01:14:25,800 was Joshua Woods, 1643 01:14:25,800 --> 01:14:29,520 whatever you would do if that if was your child, 1644 01:14:29,520 --> 01:14:30,720 that's what I'm asking you to do. 1645 01:14:30,720 --> 01:14:36,800 ♪♪ 1646 01:14:36,800 --> 01:14:38,200 Telander: I thought, when it happened, 1647 01:14:38,200 --> 01:14:42,320 that this was likely a -- just a flash point. 1648 01:14:44,600 --> 01:14:46,400 But it hasn't passed. 1649 01:14:46,400 --> 01:14:48,800 It's as though the Air Jordan, the Jumpman, 1650 01:14:48,800 --> 01:14:50,800 has become almost like a symbol. 1651 01:14:50,800 --> 01:14:52,480 It symbolizes so much more. 1652 01:14:52,480 --> 01:14:55,400 It symbolizes something that can actually make people happy. 1653 01:14:55,400 --> 01:14:57,200 It's at the root of all advertising. 1654 01:14:57,200 --> 01:15:00,240 It's advertising that worked too well. 1655 01:15:00,240 --> 01:15:02,600 Bengtson: I mean, the fact is it's still going on now, 1656 01:15:02,600 --> 01:15:04,960 and, you know, it's kind of unfortunate that 1657 01:15:04,960 --> 01:15:08,800 Rick wrote that cover story 25 years ago, 1658 01:15:08,800 --> 01:15:12,720 and you're still seeing this stuff happen now. 1659 01:15:12,720 --> 01:15:14,120 Williams: Jordan's sneakers, 1660 01:15:14,120 --> 01:15:16,680 they're jewels in the eyes of young black kids. 1661 01:15:16,680 --> 01:15:19,360 And when you have these types of jewels, 1662 01:15:19,360 --> 01:15:21,800 and you wear these types of jewels on your feet, 1663 01:15:21,800 --> 01:15:23,280 especially in the neighborhoods 1664 01:15:23,280 --> 01:15:25,800 where wealth and status is scarce, 1665 01:15:25,800 --> 01:15:27,520 but heavily coveted, 1666 01:15:27,520 --> 01:15:30,680 you have things like this happen. 1667 01:15:30,680 --> 01:15:33,200 Hill: The truth is, when you have people, 1668 01:15:33,200 --> 01:15:36,400 especially these people who are within proximity to one another, 1669 01:15:36,400 --> 01:15:38,760 in a community that's underserved, 1670 01:15:38,760 --> 01:15:42,320 that every signal, every message that they get 1671 01:15:42,320 --> 01:15:45,440 is that people don't care about what happens to you. 1672 01:15:45,440 --> 01:15:49,680 They don't care about offering you any opportunity 1673 01:15:49,680 --> 01:15:55,080 to achieve this American dream, then, you begin to take on, 1674 01:15:55,080 --> 01:15:57,440 as they say, the traits of the oppressor. 1675 01:15:57,440 --> 01:15:59,760 It becomes sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy, 1676 01:15:59,760 --> 01:16:02,360 where nobody else thinks my life is worth anything, 1677 01:16:02,360 --> 01:16:05,600 so why should I think somebody else's life is worth something? 1678 01:16:05,600 --> 01:16:08,240 And so, unfortunately, things like Jordans 1679 01:16:08,240 --> 01:16:12,000 become very big status symbols 1680 01:16:12,000 --> 01:16:14,440 in communities of color, and communities 1681 01:16:14,440 --> 01:16:18,000 that are historically and presently underserved. 1682 01:16:18,000 --> 01:16:22,400 And the value of life is just not as appreciated 1683 01:16:22,400 --> 01:16:25,360 when, you know, you're hearing from every corner of society 1684 01:16:25,360 --> 01:16:27,120 how much you're not worth. 1685 01:16:27,120 --> 01:16:29,640 It's hard for you to look at yourself as worthy, 1686 01:16:29,640 --> 01:16:33,800 and certainly see that worth in somebody else. 1687 01:16:33,800 --> 01:16:35,600 Jackson: You can't ever look at a place 1688 01:16:35,600 --> 01:16:38,480 that's gonna teach you wrong to treat you right. 1689 01:16:38,480 --> 01:16:41,920 Our history here in America has not been one of correctness, 1690 01:16:41,920 --> 01:16:44,200 as far as treatment is concerned. 1691 01:16:44,200 --> 01:16:49,160 So, to ask a subculture inside this business, 1692 01:16:49,160 --> 01:16:52,600 you know, model that America has built on our backs, 1693 01:16:52,600 --> 01:16:54,200 to a large degree. 1694 01:16:54,200 --> 01:16:56,320 All of a sudden, we start wilding out on each other 1695 01:16:56,320 --> 01:16:58,760 for that, to ask America to step in. 1696 01:16:58,760 --> 01:17:00,480 You know, yeah, Michael Jordan could probably have taken 1697 01:17:00,480 --> 01:17:02,000 a stronger stance on this, but at the end of the day, 1698 01:17:02,000 --> 01:17:05,800 we're still asking Nike to do something. 1699 01:17:05,800 --> 01:17:09,440 Lazenby: The real problem is they don't want to address it 1700 01:17:09,440 --> 01:17:11,160 in a meaningful way. 1701 01:17:11,160 --> 01:17:15,480 It is a big challenge, but there has to be something meaningful 1702 01:17:15,480 --> 01:17:18,520 to find a way to stop this trend. 1703 01:17:24,440 --> 01:17:28,080 Lazenby: The real problem is they don't want to address it 1704 01:17:28,080 --> 01:17:29,800 in a meaningful way. 1705 01:17:29,800 --> 01:17:34,320 It is a big challenge, but there has to be something meaningful 1706 01:17:34,320 --> 01:17:38,200 to find a way to stop this trend. 1707 01:17:38,200 --> 01:17:40,000 Telander: Where does the responsibility lie? 1708 01:17:40,000 --> 01:17:41,720 And really, you do start at the top. 1709 01:17:41,720 --> 01:17:45,280 So, if the Air Jordans are in the image of Michael Jordan, 1710 01:17:45,280 --> 01:17:49,080 shouldn't he have some say about what's going on? 1711 01:17:49,080 --> 01:17:51,520 And part of the criticism of Jordan is legitimate, 1712 01:17:51,520 --> 01:17:55,560 that he has not been a social leader. 1713 01:17:55,560 --> 01:17:58,000 And other people say -- and I could argue, too -- 1714 01:17:58,000 --> 01:18:00,360 why should he be? He did enough on the court, 1715 01:18:00,360 --> 01:18:02,400 he did enough as a businessman, 1716 01:18:02,400 --> 01:18:05,000 to transcend any kind of criticism 1717 01:18:05,000 --> 01:18:07,240 you might want to lay on him for not having gone out there, 1718 01:18:07,240 --> 01:18:10,160 and marched, and had some big social program. 1719 01:18:10,160 --> 01:18:11,720 You know, why don't you help these kids 1720 01:18:11,720 --> 01:18:13,880 instead of exploiting them? 1721 01:18:13,880 --> 01:18:16,520 Knight: I always wondered if it's one of the things that he regrets, 1722 01:18:16,520 --> 01:18:18,800 that he didn't step in at a certain time, 1723 01:18:18,800 --> 01:18:21,200 and say, "Hey, knock it off." 1724 01:18:21,200 --> 01:18:23,360 I don't know what kids would have done, 1725 01:18:23,360 --> 01:18:27,000 but it couldn't have hurt. 1726 01:18:27,000 --> 01:18:28,200 You know, could he have done more? 1727 01:18:28,200 --> 01:18:29,440 Yeah, he could have done more. 1728 01:18:29,440 --> 01:18:31,200 You know, but Nike, as a company, 1729 01:18:31,200 --> 01:18:33,800 should have done more, too, possibly, if they really cared. 1730 01:18:33,800 --> 01:18:36,360 Nike has a history of standing by their athletes, right? 1731 01:18:36,360 --> 01:18:37,720 And when they get into trouble, 1732 01:18:37,720 --> 01:18:38,960 unless they're really in trouble, 1733 01:18:38,960 --> 01:18:40,360 like Lance Armstrong, 1734 01:18:40,360 --> 01:18:42,400 they stand with them very late in the game. 1735 01:18:42,400 --> 01:18:44,840 Brands used to be afraid to share their values. 1736 01:18:44,840 --> 01:18:46,480 And now, the consumer says, 1737 01:18:46,480 --> 01:18:48,520 "No, I want the brand to tell me what their values are." 1738 01:18:48,520 --> 01:18:52,720 And I think this is a piece of that corporate ethos now. 1739 01:18:52,720 --> 01:18:54,760 Nike will certainly more than not 1740 01:18:54,760 --> 01:18:57,080 be looked at on the right side of history -- 1741 01:18:57,080 --> 01:18:59,400 as long as people aren't naive 1742 01:18:59,400 --> 01:19:02,120 as to why they're on the right side of history. 1743 01:19:02,120 --> 01:19:03,520 Not on the right side of history 1744 01:19:03,520 --> 01:19:06,640 because they felt some deep moral obligation. 1745 01:19:06,640 --> 01:19:07,880 They're on the right side of history 1746 01:19:07,880 --> 01:19:10,000 because it made them money. 1747 01:19:10,000 --> 01:19:12,200 They understand, especially as a company 1748 01:19:12,200 --> 01:19:14,200 that was kind of built on rebellion, 1749 01:19:14,200 --> 01:19:15,480 that they understand 1750 01:19:15,480 --> 01:19:19,120 that rebellion is an attractive quality. 1751 01:19:19,120 --> 01:19:21,040 It's attractive in the marketplace, you know? 1752 01:19:21,040 --> 01:19:24,280 The kids -- You needs kids to certainly buy the shoes, 1753 01:19:24,280 --> 01:19:26,400 but you need them to push it, and push it, 1754 01:19:26,400 --> 01:19:28,200 and make it a cultural staple. 1755 01:19:28,200 --> 01:19:29,840 And so, Nike understands that 1756 01:19:29,840 --> 01:19:32,880 so it makes all the sense in the world for them to appear 1757 01:19:32,880 --> 01:19:35,400 as if they care about social justice. 1758 01:19:35,400 --> 01:19:37,440 Bengtson: Obviously, the responsibility spreads out. 1759 01:19:37,440 --> 01:19:40,200 You know, obviously, there's some degree of responsibility 1760 01:19:40,200 --> 01:19:43,720 on virtually everyone, from the company down to the criminal. 1761 01:19:43,720 --> 01:19:45,600 You know, when I look back at the way 1762 01:19:45,600 --> 01:19:47,600 that first Air Jordan release happened, 1763 01:19:47,600 --> 01:19:49,600 and when they released it in 1985, 1764 01:19:49,600 --> 01:19:51,680 the initial supply sold out immediately. 1765 01:19:51,680 --> 01:19:53,280 You know, stuff was just gone. 1766 01:19:53,280 --> 01:19:54,920 And people were getting robbed for their Air Jordans 1767 01:19:54,920 --> 01:19:56,520 back then, in 1985. 1768 01:19:56,520 --> 01:19:58,800 Or people were getting offered an absurd amount of money 1769 01:19:58,800 --> 01:20:00,800 for them in the street, immediately after buying them, 1770 01:20:00,800 --> 01:20:02,440 'cause they just couldn't get them. 1771 01:20:02,440 --> 01:20:05,400 So, you know, Nike's response to this 1772 01:20:05,400 --> 01:20:07,800 was kind of what people want them to do now. 1773 01:20:07,800 --> 01:20:10,880 They made more. They made a lot more. 1774 01:20:10,880 --> 01:20:13,880 And that second wave of Air Jordans came out, 1775 01:20:13,880 --> 01:20:16,080 you know, which I'm sure did help to a degree. 1776 01:20:16,080 --> 01:20:17,600 And a lot of people did buy them 1777 01:20:17,600 --> 01:20:20,000 who couldn't have gotten them the first time. 1778 01:20:20,000 --> 01:20:22,760 But unfortunately, a lot of them sat, too, you know? 1779 01:20:22,760 --> 01:20:24,360 And there were original Air Jordans 1780 01:20:24,360 --> 01:20:26,080 available two years later, 1781 01:20:26,080 --> 01:20:28,960 three years later, for virtually nothing. 1782 01:20:28,960 --> 01:20:31,400 Nike, first and foremost, and Jordan first and foremost, 1783 01:20:31,400 --> 01:20:33,360 I mean, they're billion-dollar businesses. 1784 01:20:33,360 --> 01:20:35,800 You know, they didn't get that way by doing things 1785 01:20:35,800 --> 01:20:38,000 like over-production. 1786 01:20:38,000 --> 01:20:41,200 You know, and I think they've kind of honed their tactics 1787 01:20:41,200 --> 01:20:42,920 to the point where, you know, 1788 01:20:42,920 --> 01:20:45,600 they know that, yes, they're never gonna make enough 1789 01:20:45,600 --> 01:20:47,920 for everybody who wants them to get them. 1790 01:20:47,920 --> 01:20:49,480 But I think they also understand, 1791 01:20:49,480 --> 01:20:51,800 if they make so many that they don't sell through, 1792 01:20:51,800 --> 01:20:56,400 and they wind up going on sale, it ends up hurting their brand. 1793 01:20:56,400 --> 01:20:58,080 Williams: Nike has been very, very passive, 1794 01:20:58,080 --> 01:21:00,120 and kind of, for the most part, stood back on this. 1795 01:21:00,120 --> 01:21:03,120 But Nike also, you know, has a little blood 1796 01:21:03,120 --> 01:21:05,280 on their hands, too, when it comes to this. 1797 01:21:05,280 --> 01:21:08,560 Because they kind of created this sense of urgency -- 1798 01:21:08,560 --> 01:21:10,160 this is sense of demand. 1799 01:21:10,160 --> 01:21:15,120 And I think that type of mindset has kind of carried on 1800 01:21:15,120 --> 01:21:17,520 through the entire legacy of the brand. 1801 01:21:17,520 --> 01:21:19,880 I don't think it was intentional by Nike, at all. 1802 01:21:19,880 --> 01:21:22,240 However, they kind of created, 1803 01:21:22,240 --> 01:21:24,880 from the start, of, "This is something rare. 1804 01:21:24,880 --> 01:21:26,960 This is something you have to get your hands on." 1805 01:21:26,960 --> 01:21:29,520 Telander: The desire to have what somebody else has 1806 01:21:29,520 --> 01:21:32,040 because you don't have it is still there. 1807 01:21:32,040 --> 01:21:34,880 And, yes, there are still crimes for these shoes, 1808 01:21:34,880 --> 01:21:36,560 for these products. 1809 01:21:36,560 --> 01:21:38,040 The things that you walk in, 1810 01:21:38,040 --> 01:21:40,440 the things that you need just to get through a day, 1811 01:21:40,440 --> 01:21:43,320 those things have taken on a significance 1812 01:21:43,320 --> 01:21:44,600 that they never had, 1813 01:21:44,600 --> 01:21:46,560 and it's all because of Air Jordans. 1814 01:21:46,560 --> 01:21:55,240 ♪♪ 1815 01:21:55,240 --> 01:21:57,120 Letterman: Alright, now, Michael, is this shoe. 1816 01:21:57,120 --> 01:21:59,360 Now, of course, we can't show what kind of shoe this is. 1817 01:21:59,360 --> 01:22:01,080 That's okay. The color will stand for it. 1818 01:22:01,080 --> 01:22:02,960 But is this the shoe that the NBA wouldn't let you wear? 1819 01:22:02,960 --> 01:22:05,000 Yeah. 1820 01:22:05,000 --> 01:22:06,200 Now, why wouldn't they let you wear it? Just because it's ugly? 1821 01:22:06,200 --> 01:22:08,360 [ Laughter ] 1822 01:22:08,360 --> 01:22:09,720 It's just a joke. 1823 01:22:09,720 --> 01:22:12,000 It's just a joke, you know what I mean? 1824 01:22:12,000 --> 01:22:15,720 And here, we have the new improved Air Jordan. 1825 01:22:15,720 --> 01:22:17,760 With some white in it. 1826 01:22:15,720 --> 01:22:17,760 Yeah, with some white in it. 1827 01:22:17,760 --> 01:22:19,000 Now, you get a little something 1828 01:22:19,000 --> 01:22:20,840 for each of these sold, don't you? 1829 01:22:20,840 --> 01:22:22,040 Yeah. You working at it. 1830 01:22:22,040 --> 01:22:23,920 What a deal. What a deal. 1831 01:22:23,920 --> 01:22:33,600 ♪♪ 1832 01:22:33,600 --> 01:22:43,320 ♪♪ 1833 01:22:43,320 --> 01:22:53,000 ♪♪ 1834 01:22:53,000 --> 01:23:02,680 ♪♪ 1835 01:23:02,680 --> 01:23:12,360 ♪♪ 1836 01:23:12,360 --> 01:23:22,080 ♪♪ 1837 01:23:22,080 --> 01:23:31,760 ♪♪