Stories about Michael Jordan and his business deals with Nike still captivate many NBA fans. As most of us should be aware, Jordan is a 6x NBA champion and is still regarded by many to be the greatest basketball player of all time. Although LeBron James has given him a run for his money in that domain, there is no denying that his contract and unique deal with Nike has put Jordan ahead of LeBron in the world of business.
No other athlete has been so impactful that Nike has decided to give them their own brand as a subset of its own. However, that is exactly what they did for the Chicago Bulls legend by introducing the Jordan Brand. Nowadays, Jordans are just as popular as Nike, Adidas, or Puma shoes in the eyes of the youth and basketball community.
With that being said, fans should certainly want to know more about how Jordan got involved with Nike and what motivated him to do so.
How did Deloris Jordan convince Michael Jordan to attend the Nike meeting?
We have seen multiple stars across the league find their way to it largely due to the sacrifices and struggles that their mothers and fathers went through. Michael Jordan was no exception since he wasn’t born into wealth and was dependent on his family. It turns out that his mother has been one of his biggest supporters throughout his career.
Deloris was always by his side and MJ has even revealed that she supported him when he begged her for money prior to his NBA success. Just as she was kind and caring, she also knew when to put her foot down and insist that her son behave in a manner that she deemed fit.
During “The Last Dance” and “Air” Deloris was given a lot of coverage since Michael wanted to reveal to the public more about how she influenced his life. It turns out that she was the one who convinced him to follow up with Nike and attend the meeting they had organized even though he felt like changing his mind.
The 6x NBA champion revealed in a segment of the Last Dance more on how his mother got him to go, “My mother said, ‘You’re gonna go listen. You may not like it, but you’re gonna go listen.’ She made me get on that plane and go listen.”
Since Jordan was not an NBA star at that point and was just a normal teenager, Deloris had no issue with convincing him to go to the meeting. It clearly turned out to be a good decision since Nike might just be the reason Michael Jordan is considered to be the richest athlete in the world.