The film – directed by Ben Affleck, screenplay written with his friend Matt Damon: they are the two protagonists – tells the birth of the revolutionary partnership between a young Michael Jordan, at the time still an embryo star of the Chicago Bulls, and the nascent basketball division of Nike. A contract – the union of two forces – which revolutionized not only the world of sport worldwide, but in fact contemporary culture itself, with the launch of the Air Jordan brand. Michael Jordan’s career to glory is well known. The union of him with Nike pure.
Trying to do accounting to Michael Jordan’s earnings – that he turned sixty on 17 February – it is an enterprise that runs the risk of always defining by default the heritage of what was the King Midas of sport between the 80s and the dawn of the millennium. In salaries alone – in his fourteen years in business (1984 to 1993, 1995 to 1998 and 2001 to 2003 with two breaks in between) MJ earned something like $90 million.
Even today, Nike pays him 5% – that famous 5% wanted, indeed imposed, by his mother at the time of the contract – on the earnings invoiced by Jordan Brand, the brand that bears his name. In 2022 – to say – MJ pocketed $ 250 million related to this agreement. AND Forbes he estimated his net worth today to be around $1.7-1.8 billion.
MJ was worth gold, better yet: MJ was himself gold. He has been throughout his career, even beyond 6 wins in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998, always wearing the famous tank top number 23) and his Last Dance in truth it was not such, because more than twenty years have passed since then and we are still here talking about the greatest ever. By the way: the game shoes Last Dance – the last ones worn by Michael Jordan – are preparing to break the record for the most expensive sneakers ever sold at auction. From Sotheby’s – a few hours after the opening of the online auction – an offer of 1.8 million dollars arrived. According to some estimates, it could easily reach 4 million dollars. The auction closes on April 11: there is time to participate and become part of the legend.
Without forgetting what legends one becomes. Michael Jordan was cut from the basketball team in sophomore high school. For a year he trained alone. At 19, he led North Carolina to a college title with a shot just a few seconds from the end of the final. He was Olympic champion at 21. At 23, his number, he scored 63 points in a playoff game at the Boston Garden won by Chicago. Larry Bird had this to say, “That wasn’t Jordan, but God disguised as Jordan.” Maybe it didn’t get that high, but how many stars in a Looney Tunes movie like Space Jam?
More stories from Vanity Fair that may interest you:
– Jannik Sinner, how much does the golden arm of blue tennis earn
– Michael Jordan, 30 years ago the gesture that made him a legend
– The Last Dance: Epic of the Greatest of All (Michael Jordan)
