

Image credit: Getty/ Kelly Kline
Michael Jordan has approximately made a whooping profit of $1.3 billion from his deal with Nike since his signing with the fashion brand in 1984, according to Forbes.
“It is the richest athlete endorsement deal ever but also arguably the biggest bargain given that Jordan helped transform Nike from a scrappy underdog into one of the largest, most valuable consumer brands in the world,” Forbes reported on Sunday.
Perhaps, the lucky deal might not have been realized, all thanks to the NBA legend’s parents who tipped him up on going on with the auspicious deal.
During episode five of “The Last Dance,” ESPN’s docuseries about Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, which aired on Sunday night, Jordan explained how he almost signed with Adidas before his mother compelled him to opt for Nike’s offer.
“My mother said, ‘You’re going to go listen. You may not like it, but you’re going to go listen,'” Jordan said. “She made me get on that plane and go listen.”
Nike offered Jordan a $500,000-a-year deal for five years, as well as his own shoe, the Air Jordan, as against the terms and conditions Adidas wanted to bring to the table.
“Nike made this big pitch,” Jordan said, adding that his father told him, “You’d have to be a fool, not taking this deal. This is the best deal.”
According to TMZ, Nike projected $3 million in the sales of Air Jordan in the first four years of the deal, but ended up accruing a selling price of $126 million worth of the shoes just within the space of a year.