NBA fans and players alike have always wondered about the relationship between Michael Jordan and Nike. After all, he managed to do something that no other player has been able to. The Chicago Bulls legend was able to create his own shoe line called the Jordan Brand and promote it through Nike.
According to the information we initially had, Sonny Vaccaro was the man at Nike who recognized MJ’s potential. He even stood up for him and defended him when the CEO Phil Knight wondered whether he should terminate the contract with Jordan.
Although MJ has shown gratitude towards Vaccaro, he recently revealed that a man named George Raveling deserves the credit for Jordan’s decision to join Nike. Let us find out what the 6x NBA champion had to say about the events that occurred.
Michael Jordan credits George Raveling for convincing him to join Nike
To those who do not know, Raveling was once an NBA player and soon turned his career to coaching. He got to know Michael Jordan when he was the assistant coach for the 1984 Olympics team. While Jordan was still quite young at the time, George Raveling knew that he was special and urged him to join Nike.
MJ was once asked to discuss the reasons behind his business with Nike. This would make sense considering the role that his shoes have had in establishing his net worth. When given the opportunity to recount the events that occurred, Jordan revealed this truth about Raveling.
“Prior to all of that, Sonny (Vaccaro) likes to take the credit. But it really wasn’t Sonny, it was actually George Raveling. George Raveling was with me on the 1984 Olympics team (as an assistant coach under Bob Knight). He used to always try to talk to me, ‘You gotta go Nike, you gotta go Nike. You’ve got to try….At the time, Raveling also was head coach at the University of Iowa and had an endorsement deal with Nike. In fact, Vaccaro secured the deal for Raveling.”
Although we don’t know what Jordan has done to repay Raveling, we are still glad to see that he has given his former coach credit for helping him find incredible success in the business world. While Sonny Vacarro certainly saw the potential when approached and made things happen, it was Raveling who urged MJ to approach Nike in the first place.