_Hanna_Kuprevich_Alamy.jpg?#)
‘That shot changed the world’ – Michael Jordan moment saw me risk career to create $97billion empire
Michael Jordan made so many clutch shots that it is almost impossible to pick the best. But if we’re looking for the one that made the biggest impact on the world, there is a clear winner. Air Jordan changed the face of sports marketingGetty On March 29, 1982 the man who would become Air Jordan was a 19-year-old freshman. With 15 seconds left on the clock, MJ scored a go-ahead basket that saw the North Carolina Tar Heels win the NCAA Championship and changed the face of sportswear forever. Watching in the stands was marketing executive Sonny Vaccaro. Two years later, he bet his job on Jordan before he had even set foot in the NBA. “That shot changed the world because of what Michael Jordan became,” he told the BBC. “When he took the shot, it convinced me that he would take any shot in the world.” In 1984 Vaccaro convinced his bosses at Nike to spend the entire annual endorsement budget on a 21-year-old Jordan He recalls the tale in his book ‘Legends and Soles’, describing how he touted a different approach to the one that saw brands like Converse target established names including Magic Johnson. At the time Nike was on the verge of bankruptcy and Vaccaro claims boss Phil Knight only sanctioned the deal at ‘the last minute.’ The story was later adapted into the 2023 film ‘Air’, starring Matt Damon as the marketing guru. His Airness had just been selected with the third overall pick by the Chicago Bulls — a struggling franchise in need of a lightning bolt. It arrived and transformed both the Windy City and Nike’s fortunes. The sportswear company offered MJ $250,000 and a stake in his own range, instantly making him one of the richest athletes in the world. GettyJordan was already hitting clutch shots as a teenager[/caption] GettyVaccaro saw enough to stake his reputation on the young Bulls star[/caption] Six NBA Championships later and it seems a bargain. Nike is now the dominant force in sports with a market capitalization of $97.40billion. The Jordan brand alone has been valued at $30billion by Statista. “My personal opinion is that if there is no Michael Jordan, you wouldn’t even be talking about a Nike shoe company,” Vaccaro said. “That’s the one deal that changed America’s view of basketball players and endorsements. He was magnetic. “Other people had endorsements with companies and they’d hold up a shoe and say: ‘Wear this, I wear this.’ Michael didn’t have to hold up the shoe. He took the shot and then wore the shoe.” NBA's Greatest Greatest NBA players in the world right now – from Luka Doncic to Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama Best players in NBA history to never win a championship – James Harden and Carmelo Anthony to Allen Iverson and Karl Malone 10 richest owners in the NBA – family empires, media moguls and investment gurus Michael Jordan’s top 10 scoring games – counting down MJ’s most extraordinary totals The Air Jordan shoe was released in 1985 and sold $100 million of product within a year, going from strength to strength ever since. Nike’s flagship brand brought in sales of $7 billion in 2024 alone. adidas tried to follow suit by signing up Patrick Ewing, who played against Jordan for Georgetown in the 1982 final. But nobody could match the cultural impact of His Airness and Air Jordan remains one of the world’s most iconic brands. It made the man it was named after a multi-billionaire and the richest athlete of all time. Vaccaro moved from Nike to adidas and then Reebok. He founded the ABCD Camp to showcase elite high school stars in 1984. It ran until 2006 and helped unearth talents like Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, and LeBron James. Now 85, he resides in California and is all too ready to speak about perhaps the most significant basket ever made.
Michael Jordan made so many clutch shots that it is almost impossible to pick the best.
But if we’re looking for the one that made the biggest impact on the world, there is a clear winner.
On March 29, 1982 the man who would become Air Jordan was a 19-year-old freshman.
With 15 seconds left on the clock, MJ scored a go-ahead basket that saw the North Carolina Tar Heels win the NCAA Championship and changed the face of sportswear forever.
Watching in the stands was marketing executive Sonny Vaccaro. Two years later, he bet his job on Jordan before he had even set foot in the NBA.
“That shot changed the world because of what Michael Jordan became,” he told the BBC. “When he took the shot, it convinced me that he would take any shot in the world.”
In 1984 Vaccaro convinced his bosses at Nike to spend the entire annual endorsement budget on a 21-year-old Jordan
He recalls the tale in his book ‘Legends and Soles’, describing how he touted a different approach to the one that saw brands like Converse target established names including Magic Johnson.
At the time Nike was on the verge of bankruptcy and Vaccaro claims boss Phil Knight only sanctioned the deal at ‘the last minute.’ The story was later adapted into the 2023 film ‘Air’, starring Matt Damon as the marketing guru.
His Airness had just been selected with the third overall pick by the Chicago Bulls — a struggling franchise in need of a lightning bolt.
It arrived and transformed both the Windy City and Nike’s fortunes.
The sportswear company offered MJ $250,000 and a stake in his own range, instantly making him one of the richest athletes in the world.
Six NBA Championships later and it seems a bargain.
Nike is now the dominant force in sports with a market capitalization of $97.40billion.
The Jordan brand alone has been valued at $30billion by Statista.
“My personal opinion is that if there is no Michael Jordan, you wouldn’t even be talking about a Nike shoe company,” Vaccaro said.
“That’s the one deal that changed America’s view of basketball players and endorsements. He was magnetic.
“Other people had endorsements with companies and they’d hold up a shoe and say: ‘Wear this, I wear this.’ Michael didn’t have to hold up the shoe. He took the shot and then wore the shoe.”
NBA's Greatest
Greatest NBA players in the world right now – from Luka Doncic to Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama
Best players in NBA history to never win a championship – James Harden and Carmelo Anthony to Allen Iverson and Karl Malone
10 richest owners in the NBA – family empires, media moguls and investment gurus
Michael Jordan’s top 10 scoring games – counting down MJ’s most extraordinary totals
The Air Jordan shoe was released in 1985 and sold $100 million of product within a year, going from strength to strength ever since.
Nike’s flagship brand brought in sales of $7 billion in 2024 alone.
adidas tried to follow suit by signing up Patrick Ewing, who played against Jordan for Georgetown in the 1982 final.
But nobody could match the cultural impact of His Airness and Air Jordan remains one of the world’s most iconic brands.
It made the man it was named after a multi-billionaire and the richest athlete of all time.
Vaccaro moved from Nike to adidas and then Reebok.
He founded the ABCD Camp to showcase elite high school stars in 1984.
It ran until 2006 and helped unearth talents like Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, and LeBron James.
Now 85, he resides in California and is all too ready to speak about perhaps the most significant basket ever made.
