Nike's revolutionary entrance into the world of basketball came as a splash, but its popularity was greatly aided by the NBA, although unintentionally. David Falk, the longtime agent of Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan, recalled how the league banned the Air Jordan 1 shoe that is now infamously known as “The Banned” edition due to its bold black and red colors:

“So they make the first shoe, the black and red one. Michael wears it to practice and the league immediately bans the shoes,” said Falk as a guest on The Business of Sports podcast. “They ban it, they say it doesn't conform with the team's uniform colors. And (Rob) Strasser calls me up in a panic and he says, ‘Goddammit. We just paid him all this money, he can't even freakin' wear the shoe.'”

However, Falk took the lemons from the league and made them into lemonade:

“I said, ‘God, that's great.' They said, ‘Really, what's great about it?'” Falk recalled. “We're gonna do a banned in Boston commercial. So what the hell does that mean? So we do a commercial that basically says these shoes are so special that the NBA banned them because it gives Michael a competitive advantage.”

The plan was a total hit, as Nike promoted the Bulls phenom's shoes by saying, “Fortunately, the NBA can't stop you from wearing them.”

That skyrocketed sales and to this day, those remain among the most sought-after in the grail of Air Jordan sneakers.

Nike expected to sell $3 million worth of sneakers by the end of Jordan's fourth season. They were pleasantly surprised to know they had sold $126 million in his rookie year with the Bulls alone.

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