Being one of the more popular and longest-tenured endorsers of the Jordan Brand, Ray Allen‘s name has been almost synonymous with it as the legendary shooter has been seen wearing some of its rarest player-exclusive models throughout his stellar professional career.

The NBA's all-time leader in three-point field goals made recently shared, via Jarrel Harris of Sports Illustrated, that he almost signed with another shoe and apparel company back in the 1990s.

During that time, FILA took the market by storm when they were able to sign some of best young players in the league like Grant Hill and Jerry Stackhouse, which led them to offering Allen an endorsement deal as well. That did not come into fruition though because of some stipulations that the 10-time All-Star found almost impossible to achieve.

“I almost ended up wearing FILA. My agent at the time tried to make me accept a check for a $100,000 but they were telling me they were going to give me a signature shoe. It was either FILA or Nike at the time and (FILA) told (I'd get) the signature shoe for five years years but the first two I had to lead the team in scoring, rebounding, steals or assists. And I'm going to Milwaukee with Glenn Robinson and Vin Baker and I was like this is basically a two year deal, they were just trying to put the wool over my eyes and I was smart. I didn't need the $100,000. Then Nike came back and said well listen, if you come with us we can't guarantee you a shoe but we are starting this new company, it is going to be called Brand Jordan and you will be one of the first athletes. And you know there were no guarantees made. I didn't take that check and I was going where my heart is. One gentleman told me ‘if you are a great NBA player, what would you rather have on your foot? Where do you think you will blow up more, with FILA or with Nike?' And I told him Nike hands down.”

As it turned out, Allen made the right decision as the Jordan Brand has established itself as one of the biggest shoe manufacturers in the world day. Unfortunately for FILA, they were not able to continue the success they had and have since focused on other sports instead. The stipulation of leading his team in three statistics can also be considered a blessing in disguise for Jesus Shuttlesworth, as he had a very successful working relationship with Michael Jordan, and helped its popularity grow even more.