The story of how Michael Jordan and Nike got together is one messy tale

LIES. Backstabbing. Secrecy. No, it’s not the latest episode of The Bachelor, it’s the story of how Michael Jordan and Nike got filthy rich together.

TRYING to figure out who was responsible for coming up with Brand Jordan is harder than understanding a Shakespearean play. Drunk. While doing a handstand. With one eye closed.

Come to think of it, the story itself is actually very similar to some of the Bard’s work. There’s numerous actors with different agendas, all trying to manoeuvre their way into grabbing a share of the spoils.

More than 30 years after Nike consummated its relationship with who was then the biggest sports star on the planet, there is still debate over who can take the credit for engineering the lucrative sponsorship arrangement.

In a series of interviews with USA Today, Jordan himself and a host of Nike executives weighed in on who were the brains behind ideas such as Air Jordans and the Chicago Bulls star’s apparel line that reportedly still generates $US2 billion a year.

Brand Jordan is just one of the reasons MJ continues to make $US100 million a year, according to Forbes. It commanded 58 per cent of the $US 4.2 billion basketball shoe market in 2014, despite the fact he retired more than a decade ago.

Like with any Shakespearean prose, we need to introduce the cast. So before we get cracking, the people you need to know are: Jordan’s agent John Falk, Nike co-founder Phil Knight, Nike executive George Raveling, former Nike creative man Peter Moore, former Nike basketball adviser Sonny Vaccaro and ex-Nike marketing genius Rob Strasser. Oh, and Michael Jordan, probably the greatest basketballer that ever lived.

The Chicago Bulls, and Nike, were both glad Jordan was on their team.

MICHAEL JORDAN

The great man Michael Jordan was allegedly an Adidas and Converse fan in his college days before he reluctantly headed to Nike headquarters to hear their pitch for him — and the rest is history. But who does he think played the most important role in helping him create this slice of history?

“Sonny (Vaccaro) likes to take the credit. But it really wasn’t Sonny, it was actually George Raveling,” Jordan told USA Today.

“He’s the one, in all honestly, that really persuaded me to look at Nike.”

So early in the piece we have George Raveling in the lead, according to Jordan.

Who wouldn’t want an athlete who could dunk like that on their books?

DAVID FALK

Jordan’s agent played a key role in getting the North Carolina graduate to consider brushing other companies in favour of Nike. Falk told ESPN in 2013 that Jordan instructed him to do whatever was necessary to finalise a deal with Adidas, but he was having none of it.

Falk reportedly had a strong relationship with Rob Strasser at the time, who was responsible for signing athletes to the company, but MJ wouldn’t even agree to a meeting with Nike.

According to Falk, it was only when he called Jordan’s parents James and Deloris that their son relented and went to a meeting. From then on, Nike became the frontrunner to sign the gun baller.

ROB STRASSER

As a marketing expert at the sportswear company, Strasser was instrumental in establishing Jordan’s footwear and apparel line. Speaking to Willamette Weekin 1988 about Brand Jordan, Nike co-founder Phil Knight said: “A whole lot of people are responsible, but Rob is the MVP.”

Strasser has been credited with reviving Nike’s fortunes when they began to struggle financially in the mid-1980s, coming up with the Air Jordan concept — an idea that turned out to be a financial goldmine for Nike.

He may not have been directly involved with luring Jordan to the company, but he played a vital role in keeping him there.

The Air Jordan I, released in 1985 — it’s a thing of beauty.

PETER MOORE

Moore was a creative type responsible for designing Nike’s footwear. At his first meeting with Nike, Jordan reportedly told the company that he preferred Adidas shoes because they were lower to the ground.

At a time when athletes had little choice over the gear they were given, ESPN reported that Moore’s idea to tailor a shoe specifically for Jordan helped sway the college star’s mind just that little bit further.

Nike’s Global Basketball Director George Raveling said he believed this promise to Jordan of having a signature shoe (what became the Air Jordan) was the biggest factor in getting Jordan across.

Moore made sure to credit Sonny Vaccaro as one of the main players in the Jordan deal, telling USA Today: “I can honestly say without Sonny there would not be an Air Jordan. Nike would never have signed him, would more than likely never have even chased him”.

SONNY VACCARO

In ESPN documentary “Sole Man” released this year, Sonny Vaccaro insisted he was responsible for bringing Jordan to Nike. The documentary also highlighted Vaccaro’s strength in recruiting college basketballers to the company, adding weight to his argument that if it wasn’t for him, Nike wouldn’t have been interested in pursuing Jordan.

“Phil Knight’s lying, Michael’s lying more than Phil and Raveling is insane,” Vaccaro told USA Today.

Tell us what you really think, Sonny.

“All three of them need to destroy me to live happily ever after. Everyone’s trying to re-write history. It goes beyond Jordan. I am the saviour of Nike.”

OK, I guess you just did.

Regardless of what anyone else says, Vaccaro will clearly always think that he was the one responsible for sport’s greatest pairing.

Guess which one is Vaccaro and which one is the professional basketballer...

GEORGE RAVELING

Raveling supported Jordan’s version of events, saying the pair became “lifelong friends” during the 1984 Olympics. That’s when he claims to have persuaded Jordan to attend a meeting with Nike.

In a video interview uploaded to his website, “Coaching For Success”, in 2013, Raveling said: “Michael never really wanted to be with Nike...I was trying to recruit him for Nike.

“I kept badgering him about it, and Sonny Vaccaro asked me to try and get a meeting with him.

“I talked Michael into going over and meeting with Sonny Vaccaro.

“He met Sonny who didn’t impress him that much.”

So if Raveling’s version of events is true, he can lay claim to being the brain child behind the lucrative partnership, whereas Vaccaro was more of a hindrance than a help.

PHIL KNIGHT

Sometimes being good at your job means employing the right people under you, and it seems that was the case for Nike co-founder Phil Knight. He approved Jordan’s signing, but it’s unlikely the deal would have eventuated if not for those beneath him.

Regardless of the bloodbath over who gets to take credit for Brand Jordan, Knight can sleep soundly knowing he was the head of the company that snagged him. He told USA Today that there was one person who didn’t deserve all the back slapping, though.

“On ESPN he said he was the key to the thing. Sonny helped, but he wasn’t the MVP in that process,” said Knight.

Signing MJ was Knight’s greatest achievement.