“On Sept. 15, Nike created a revolutionary new basketball shoe. Oct. 18, the NBA threw them out of the league.”
One of the most famous Nike commercials in history, featuring Michael Jordan wearing Air Jordan 1s, presented a story of rebellion and innovation to the world in 1985 as it introduced the first of what would become the most successful sneaker line in history.
In the years since, it has become common knowledge that Jordan was not wearing the Air Jordan 1s during the Oct. 18, 1984, preseason game against the Knicks. Instead, he was wearing the Air Ships.
Nike’s story made for better marketing, powering the Air Jordan 1s to their retail launch in March 1985. The company only acknowledged the existence of the Air Ships in 2015 on the 30th anniversary of Jordan’s NBA debut, when the Jordan Brand Twitter account posted a photo of Jordan wearing the shoes.
Shortly thereafter, the earliest known regular-season pair of Jordan’s game-worn sneakers — red and white Air Ships from his fifth NBA game — sold at auction for nearly $1.5 million.
But a newly uncovered piece of Nike history has thickened the plot.
An internal Nike newsletter from 1985, printed exclusively for employees and released after Jordan’s rookie season, tells the story from a new angle.
The newsletter, which was obtained seven years ago by sneaker expert Jordan Geller from a longtime Nike employee who was a part of the launch of the Air Jordan line and is currently being sold on eBay, addresses the veracity of the advertisement directly: “Actually, the shoes weren’t banned,” the newsletter says bluntly.
Going on to explain the NBA requested the colors be changed to match the Bulls’, and Nike was “quick to comply,” it sheds new light on the league’s involvement in the marketing of the sneaker’s “underground” vibe.
“Ever since I read the newsletter I’ve always been fascinated by the parts that talks about the NBA not banning Michael Jordan’s shoes, and Nike not paying any fines to the NBA,” Geller told cllct.
“For its part, the NBA didn’t mind being cast as the heavy in the commercial,” reads the newsletter. NBA spokesman Terry Lyons is quoted as saying. “It gives exposure to Jordan’s rare talent, and that reflects positively on the NBA.”
Now, in addition to Nike’s intentional obfuscation of the sneaker model donned by Jordan in the supposed “banned” game, evidence suggests the ban was nothing more than a fiction, with cooperation from the NBA, and no hint of a fine at all.
The 40th anniversary of the Air Jordan 1 was celebrated with a commercial from Nike on Christmas Day, imagining a lineage of sneakers without the most important sneaker ever created.
This week, Nike has “banned” certain Air Jordan 1s on its website with black bars reminiscent of the classic commercial, showing the myth remains poignant, despite evidence to the contrary.
Nike employees have even been receiving "citations" for wearing the supposedly "banned" sneakers on campus this week in anticipation of the release of the Air Jordan 1 High '85 "Bred."
“Nike is a marketing company,” Geller said. “They tell stories to create hype and sell products. Sometimes the stories are exaggerations, and sometimes they’re not true at all.”
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.