Much of Jordan Brand’s legend and lore traces its origin story here. Jordan’s on-court play was noticeable right away, but it was his footwear that really got the most attention.

Jordan played in the Air jordan 1 mocha Jordan 1 in 1984, its iconic red and black features flying against what the NBA deemed to be acceptable — it wasn’t the mandatory plain vanilla white.

Its first on-court appearance came on November 17, 1984 against Philadelphia in what we now know to be the “Chicago” colorway.

Akin to the televised Big Brother in Apple’s 1984 commercial, then-NBA commissioner David Stern came down hard on Jordan and Nike by fining the Bulls $1,000 for the first illegal wear, and $5,000 for each subsequent one. Freedom of expression was being challenged.

Nike knew a marketing opportunity when it saw it. The Swoosh famously paid each of Jordan’s fines, which helped to spark media headlines and subsequently led to an iconic branding commercial of its own.



Nike released several thousands pairs of Air Jordans. Behind its viral marketing strategy — because that’s what it was — the sneakers sold out immediately.

Nike’s gamble on an unknown entity in Michael Jordan and a potential legal dispute with the NBA had paid off, big time.

Freedom of expression was here, and it was good for business.

As Michael Jordan went, so did the Air Jordan line. His on-court exploits paired with innovative and ground-breaking design elements in subsequent sneaker iterations resulted in an era of unheralded success for Nike.

Continuing its marketing awareness, Nike created a unique logo— known as the “Wings Logo” — for its Jordan line, a basketball with wings stretching from both sides and “Air Jordan” in print in a banner above the basketball.

Based on a 1984 Life magazine photo shoot from the Summer Olympics, Nike eventually updated the “Wings Logo” with a silhouette of Michael jordan 1 mocha soaring through the air in an exaggerated mid-air ballet move.

the “Jumpman” logo is now almost as a recognizable brand icon as any other sports brand icon.