The Nike Gamble That Built Air Jordan

On this episode of Our American Stories, the 1984 NBA Draft brought Michael Jordan to Chicago and led Nike into a gamble that would define its future. Nike committed to a signature shoe built around a rookie and released a design that drew immediate scrutiny from league officials. But the fines that followed became part of the story rather than the end of it.

As Jordan’s career began to climb, so did the visibility of the Air Jordan line. Nicholas Smith, the author of Kicks, revisits the early days of the Nike and Michael Jordan partnership and the circumstances that led to one of the most recognizable brands in sports.

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