(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
Everyone knows that Michael Jordan was one of the fiercest competitors in the history of the NBA, but he was also a very loyal business partner.
Jordan became the face of Nike and, in many ways, he remains the center of that company to this day.
He is so loyal to the organization that he wouldn’t even let people wear shoes from competing brands in his home.
Speaking to Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, former NBA player Tim Thomas recalled how Jordan halted him when he stepped inside his home after noticing Thomas was wearing Adidas.
“MJ stopped me at the door and said, ‘You got to take that off,’” Thomas recounted.
Thomas said he was then stripped of all his Adidas accessories and put into Nike clothing instead.
Michael Jordan forced an Adidas athlete to wear Nike at his house.
“MJ stopped me at the door and said, YOU GOT TO TAKE THAT OFF,” recounts Tim Thomas.
“They basically stripped me of that Adidas gear & put me in all Nike gear. So when I ended leaving MJ’s house there was all my… https://t.co/jGhLkronp3 pic.twitter.com/76iHJelLXH
— Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson (@ScoopB) December 12, 2023
Jordan has been with Nike since before his NBA career even started.
As he entered his rookie year in 1984, he was approached by multiple companies, including Converse and Adidas.
But it was Nike, the young upstart company with little show for itself, that won Jordan over.
He then signed a five-year, $2.5 million deal with Nike, which was three times more than any other deal in the NBA at the time.
Right away, the Jordan brand was a massive hit and it earned more than $120 million in its first year alone.
Since then, Jordan and Nike have made billions of dollars together and they have become perhaps the most notable partnership in sports history.
Therefore, it’s not a surprise to hear that Jordan didn’t allow anything but Nike in his home.
The post Former NBA Player Recalls Michael Jordan’s Strict Sneaker Rule appeared first on The Cold Wire.