If you’re familiar with Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand, then you’ve certainly seen the iconic “Jumpman” logo over the years. It’s hard to miss as it’s on clothing, shoes, courts and anything else related to the GOAT.
The silhouette of Jordan jumping through the sky is perfect. It represents everything about Jordan’s game as he soared through the lane, splitting the defenders on his way to a bucket. But how did that logo come about? Well, it’s actually a very interesting story.
Before the Air Jordan I made its debut in 1985, Jordan wore Converse in his college career and then New Balance as he played for Team USA at the 1984 Olympic Games. Before those games, there was a photo shoot with Jordan jumping through the air. In that photo shoot, Jordan was actually wearing New Balances.
Austin Scotti, the marketing manager at KITH, broke that story down in this Instagram post on Sunday ahead of episodes 5 and 6 of “The Last Dance”:
Now it all makes sense.
As for New Balance, they weren’t in the running to land Jordan on a sneaker deal. But they didn’t mess up as bad as adidas who couldn’t guarantee Jordan getting a signature shoe. Ouch.
Nike is the big winner in all of this, surprise, surprise as they did over $126M in sales in the FIRST year of the Air Jordan line. The rest is history as Jordan Brand is a very successful company under the Nike umbrella and still releasing retro Jordans to this date.
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