All language subtitles for One Man and His Shoes a

And I think Nike
knew that.

Bengtson: You know, you had
this ready-made character,

you know, and he could come in
and do these commercials,

which were amazing
for their day.

You know, it's like,
you go back and look at, say,

Converse,
with the Weapon.

They had all these guys, like,
do a rap commercial.

♪ For the kind of moves
that never fail ♪

♪ The Weapon's the choice
of Kevin McHale ♪

♪ The same is true
for Mark Aguirre ♪

♪ When I wear Weapons,
I'm on fire ♪

♪ But what can the weapons
do for King? ♪

♪ Why, I can do
just about anything ♪

♪ You already know
what they did for me ♪

ALL: What?

♪ I walked away
with the MVP ♪

Announcer:
Converse Weapon --

The number-one weapon
in the NBA.

And it's like, you're just being
too literal, almost. You know?

And Spike and Mars,
they're coming out

doing these
black-and-white ads,

and like, they were debuted
during all-star weekend.

And, you know,
I remember getting ready

to watch
the NBA all-star game,

and, like, I was excited
about the dunk contest.

But I was super excited

that there would be
a new Air Jordan commercial.

Oh, money, money, why you want
to do that to me?

Why you leave
me hanging?

I got it.

Oh.

The big thing about what that
campaign taught us was, again,

that you could have fun
with this stuff,

and to look at
the athlete as, like --

this sounds crass,
but as the product.

What makes
this person unique?

Why could only Jordan be in that
campaign with Mars Blackmon?

Yo, Mike, what made you
the best player in the universe?

Is it the vicious dunks?

-No, Mars.
-Is it the haircut?

-No, Mars.
-Is it the shoes?

No, Mars.

Knight: The big thing
in marketing of these shoes

is that you've got to let
the kid know that you get it.

But you can't do it
in an obvious, stupid way.

You've got to do it
in a subliminal way.

You sure it's not
the shoes?

I'm sure, Mars.

-What about the shoes?
-No, Mars.

Using Spike Lee,
that's what that did.

And you just knew right there,
just to see that,

and that magic, you just went,
"This is gonna work.

We're blessed."

That's exactly
what I told Wieden

when I called him after
we were done shooting this.

I said, "Wieden all I can tell
you is, 'we're blessed.'"

Jackson:
And the nine commercials
they did for the 3,

the 4, and the 5 --
brilliant.

It's just brilliant
marketing, man.

You know,
and for Wieden+Kennedy

to let Spike
just do his thing.

You know, and let Spike
and Mars and Michael

develop a relationship.

It worked.
It worked beautifully.

Yo, professor, how does Mike
defy gravity?

Do you know? Do you know?
Do you know? Do you know?

Michael Jordan overcomes
the acceleration of gravity

by the application of his muscle
power in the vertical plain,

thus producing a low altitude
Earth orbit.

A what?
-Do you know what I mean?

Do you know? Do you know?
Do you know?

Knight: What the hell
is Nike doing?

This wasn't Spike
40 years later,

winning academy awards,

and becoming one of the greatest
directors in the world.

This was Spike as a young guy,
you know, coming right off of

"Do The Right Thing,"
and all these things,

where America, again,
was in unrest.

We're in now
the eighties.

And we're putting a black guy
on television

to sell shoes
to white America.

Most sneaker heads
will look at those spots,

and say those are the best
basketball commercials ever.

And I really think those ads
reshaped Nike advertising.

And I think it introduced Nike
into popular culture,

rather than just the top pyramid
of, you know,

high-performance athletes.

I mean, this was the Nike
for the rest of us.

See, that's the thing that
really happened, was Spike Lee.

Spike Lee, in my opinion,

is the father of what you call
this sneaker culture.

He would be the father.

Because no Spike,
no commercials about the shoes.

Let me repeat myself.

This you can buy.

You cannot do this.

Can.
Can't.

Can.

Kent: It ain't the shoes,
it's Michael Jordan, but no.

You believe, now,
it's the shoes.

Spike Lee happened.

When he got in
"Do The Right Thing,"

and said
"my sneakers are broke,"

the sneakers
were a character.

Yo!

Man: Yeah?

Yo, you almost
knocked me down, man.

The word is
"excuse me."

Oh, excuse me.
I'm sorry.

Not only just that but now you
stood on my brand-new [bleep]

Air Jordans
that I just [bleep] bought.

And that's all you can say,
is "excuse me"?

-What you [bleep] serious?
-Yeah, I'm serious.

I'll [bleep] you up quick
two times.

Two times.

Who told you to step
on my sneakers?

Yo, man, your Jordans
are [bleep] up.

Damn, man, you might have
to throw them kicks out.

"You broke my Jordans
'cause you stepped on them."

Not "You broke my sneakers,"
"You broke my Jordans."

The Jordans became
a character.

Knight: I asked Michael later
about the Spike Lee time.

He liked the guy.
He thought he was okay.

He didn't particularly think
the commercials were any good,

but he thought
the guy was funny.

Action.
Spike Lee.

No one did for marketing

what Nike and Michael
did for marketing.

Nobody.

Bengtson: I mean, he became
the face of everything.

Falk: We weren't trying
to do anything

other than take advantage
of his personality.

So, his first three deals,

as someone who starred
in the Olympics,

were Coca-Cola,
McDonald's, and Chevrolet.

I mean, you can't get any more
all-American than that.

And the fact that he was
African American

broke all
the barriers.

Williams: Jordan was this 6'6"
black man with a bald head,

very dark-skinned,
dark-complected.

That same guy without the name
Michael Jordan

walking down the streets
of suburban America

would have been seen
as a threat.

And so, how were they able
to make him not intimidating?

So, they had these kind of
Jordan rules of marketing in,

you know,
the way they showed him.

They embodied why Jordan
was able to penetrate,

and get into white America,
because he made white America

feel as if he was
just like them.

And I think Nike,
Hanes, Ballpark, Gatorade

did a fabulous job
of really crafting this brand

to a lot of white people
to accept him into their homes.

Williams:
He made white America feel
as if he was just like them.

And I think Nike,
Hanes, Ballpark, Gatorade

did a fabulous job
of really crafting this brand

to a lot of white people
to accept him into their homes.

Woman: Michael Jordan
used to be a superstar.

Now I'm an Ultra Star.

-Ultra soft...
-Is Ultra Star.

-Ultra clean...
-Is Ultra Star.

Announcer: The ultra
in men's haircare.

-Ultra sexy.

-He's Ultra Star.

Jackson:
You know, so to see a young
black dude come into that space,

and be able to sell America
about everything,

and make it
believable was,

you know,
areas uncharted for us.

You know, Ali was huge,
you know, for us.

Jackie Robinson
was huge for us.

Reggie Jackson was massive,
you know, for a black community.

But at some point,
there was still a disconnect

between, you know,
general America --

especially white America --
and those athletes.

You know, a lot of times,
you had to remove the blackness

for them to remove the blackness

in order for them
to see this person

as being what they would say
just American.

Ever need to
rent a car fast?

♪ Nobody does it better ♪

In order for America to accept
that black person,

there had to be some level of
this person

conforming to
the other side,

and distancing themselves

from their quote,
unquote "blackness."

Nobody has more of what it takes
to get you

into a new LTV
or other fine car faster.

For the non-African American
side of this country

to accept him,
and find comfort in who he was.

And I think it also came with
a sense of authenticity

that Michael didn't try
to sell himself

out of who he was
as a person.

You know, Michael never tried
to be something that he wasn't.

He was like,
"You're gonna accept me

for who I am in America."

And I think America somehow
tapped into that sensibility.

We tapped into
this authenticity.

You can say a lot of things
about Michael Jordan.

He is by no means Malcolm X,
alright?

He chose to be silent
on things.

But you never sensed
that he rejected being black.

Like, you felt like he was
very proud of being black.

And while I know Jordan
will never be considered

to be some kind of
revolutionary,

what he did, in terms
of global marketing,

and giving other black athletes
a blueprint to do that,

was quite revolutionary.

And showing other brands
that you can put a black face

on a Fortune 500 company,
and make a ton of money.

I don't want to say his marking
is overstated,

because, obviously,
that was a big deal.

But at the same time, you know,
I think it can't be said enough,

like,
what he did on the court

still was what mattered
more than anything.

If he didn't perform
on the court the way he did,

those shoes
wouldn't have sold.

♪♪

Bengtson:
The fact that he came out,
and was as good as he was,

and was as photogenic
as he was,

and was as, you know,
transcendent as he was,

that's what made
all the difference.

Those brilliant ads
don't translate

with Michael Jordan
coming off the bench.

It sure as hell
made my job easy.

I mean, you just watch
what he did,

and then you make
a spot about it.

♪♪

Jackson: If you look at the year
Michael had in '88,

when they released
the 3,

that quietly can be
one of the greatest seasons

anybody has ever had.

You don't win MVP,

scoring title,
Defensive player of the Year,

All-star MVP,
you know what I'm saying?

There's nothing else
that guy didn't win that year,

with the exception of a finals
MVP and a championship.

We had never seen
a season like that.

Everything he was doing
correlated to those shoes.

And we bought into that
because what was the tag line

they were selling us?

"Is it the shoes?
Is it the shoes?"

Mars Blackmon keep ingraining
that in our head.

"Is it the shoes?"

And that concept played into
his entire career,

as far as his shoes
were concerned.

What did Michael do
in those particular shoes?

And the moments he would have
in certain shoes

became their own quote,
unquote, "phenomenon."

Every ring he won attached
themselves to the shoes

he was wearing
when he won those rings.

In the early nineties, he began
challenging for the NBA title.

He began winning
on a big level.

♪♪

♪♪

Jackson: What Michael Jordan
was able to do

on the backs of Julius Erving
and Bird and Magic

was take it to
that Babe Ruth place,

where basketball basically
had become ingrained

in the country's
entire consciousness

to put it
in a stratosphere

that we didn't know
this game could exist.

That's what he
was able to do.

Telander:
I mean, when I was following
the Bulls, there, at the end --

you know, I've been
around rock bands too,

but when I'm following,
there, at the end,

it was like what the Beetles
were -- people screaming.

And then,
you had Michael Jordan.

You had Paul and John
rolled into one.

Jackson: It was equivalent to,
like, you know,

what is the Isley Brothers'
next album?

What's the next
Stevie Wonder project?

What's Michael Jackson
gonna follow up,

you know,
"Thriller" with?

That's what Jordan
was like.

You know, alright,
it was on that level.

You know, it was sort of
a time when a lot of

African American contributions
became much more mainstream.

You know, you had Prince.
You had Michael Jackson.

You know,
and Michael Jordan,

he was basketball's
version of that.

Williams:
You saw Jordan everywhere.

He had so many
brand associations.

And so, it made
you want to be like Jordan.

And so, you had kids
trying to emulate him,

you know,
in everything they did --

not just on
the basketball courts,

on the streets,
but also in their life.

And the Jordan brand,
the sneaker,

it really allowed us
to be able to do that

for the first time.

Telander:
We recognized something
in Michael Jordan instinctively,

that this was beauty,
and that I wanted some of that.

How can I
get close to it?

How can I get
ahold of this?

So, with this rampant
consumerism,

the shoes that had never
been marketed this way,

the advertisement
they had,

you said, "Damn, man,
I can't be Michael Jordan

but I can have this piece
of what he represents."

Williams: I mean, you think
about its impact on even,

you know, pop culture
and hip hop.

I mean, it's hard press
to find any rapper's catalog,

and he doesn't mention
Jordan at some point.

You think about probably
the most beloved black sitcom

of the 1990s,
"The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."

Right there in the opening
credits, what is he wearing?

You know, the Jordan shoe,
I believe it was the Jordan 5.

♪ Now, this is a story
all about how ♪

♪ My life got flipped
turned upside down ♪

♪ And I'd like to take a minute,
just sit right there ♪

♪ I'll tell you how
I became the prince of
a town called Bel-Air ♪

And also, what had happened
in the last 20 years

are the shoe collectors.

And it became fanatical
to get them.

Powell: So, the retro is
really based on products

that emulate
the original product.

We don't make shoes like we did
in 1985 any longer.

So, we can't make the shoe
exactly like it was

with the Jordan 1.

But we make shoes that look
like the Jordan 1.

So, when we talk about
a retro shoe,

it's a shoe that's very close
to the original product.

And the bulk of the Jordan sales
were coming out of retro.

I mean, I'm confounded by
the rapidity of the whole thing.

I believe I'm the biggest
collector of Air Jordan shoes

in the United States.

Currently, I have 1,175 shoes
in my collection.

They start in a corner
back there,

and they just come all the way
around by the numbers.

I have some spaces
in between.

If I pick up new shoes,
I won't have to just move

all of the cases
all the way around.

But my favorites
are the 8s.

I call them
"the great 8s."

That was his greatest playoff
season of the six championships.

Back in 1985,
I was in college.

I had watched MJ from 1981,
and he went to the NBA.

And then, I saw these
red and white shoes.

That was the first shoe I bought
with my own money.

I wear them on the first
of every year.

They are from 1985.

$65.

That was the price.
But back then, $65,

this was the most expensive
basketball shoe in 1985.

Everything that has come after
these was because of this.

And you know, I have
the Jumpman tattoo on my arm.

It's his style of play.
It's his passion.

And it's also what he did
as a basketball player

in these shoes, you know,
is what means a lot to me.

And for me, it's more than just
the shoes, you know?

It's the memorabilia, too.

I have the Wheaties boxes,
and...

[ Rattles ]

I never took the seal
off of it.

It was just a collector's
piece to me.

And now, I have
18 different boxes,

from the mini boxes
to the big boxes.

And I've been offered
tens of thousands of dollars

just for these
cereal boxes.

Original Gatorade bottle.

This has been here
since 1992.

Never popped the top on it.

Wouldn't recommend
drinking this.

I've been doing this for,
you know, 33-plus years.

I don't get free stuff.

This is stuff
that I've bought.

This is all blood,
sweat, and tears.

This is something
that I've taken on since 1985,

that I like to do.

I like to change shoes.

Sometimes, I change my shoes
three or four times a day,

just so I can get a chance
to wear everything.

But 1,175 pairs, I might not
get to wear a shoe again

for three years.

The insurance policy
for my entire collection,

everything -- shoes,
memorabilia, everything --

is over $1 million.

It's just so much history and
passion behind collecting shoes

that I'm in it
till the end.

I'm not gonna stop.

Salman:
I mean, it's addiction.

It's -- You know, anybody
who does stuff like that,

it's partially addiction.

You know, it could be good,
it could be bad,

but it's an addiction.

It becomes a habit.

It becomes, like,
you know, a contest,

and a competition
for a lot of these people.

♪♪

[ Speaks Japanese ]

Ruddy: For sure, I haven't worn
any of the Jordan 1s here.

My intent was not
to wear them.

My intent was to make a line-up
of the shoes,

and to have a nice display
in my home

and so that I could watch them
after work,

like you watch TV,
and just enjoy.

The addiction was fueled
because of Jordan.

Jordan is an amazing guy.

When you look at this box,

it's hard to keep
a box like this,

for 30 years,
in this condition.

That's the original paper.

You see?

You can smell it.
You can smell time.

You can smell history.

Now, when I tell you I spend
$8,000 just for these two shoes.

Yeah, when I have a set back,
I realize, yeah,

it's out of control
to spend that much money.

Yeah.

It's this modern
American story.

I mean, you have -- in the turn
of the 19th century you had,

you know,
your C.W. Post for Post Cereal

and your
John and Will Kellogg,

and how they created Kellogg's,
and your Milton Hershey's.

You say Hershey bar, but you're
talking about Milton Hershey.

You're talking about a man.

You' talking about Ford,
you're talking about a man.

You think about all these brands
that we consume,

and we don't even
make them synonymous

with the people that
created them, but they are.

And now,
for the first time,

black people have that
with the Jordan brand.

And so, I think,
what we were able to see

is something in modern day
that we've never seen before.

Can you really name
another black founded

controlled brand
like that?

That is just synonymous
with one name,

that lives and breathes
on it's own?

I think that's why
the African Americans

love it so much,
and they covet it,

because it's kind of
our brand.

Lazenby:
People all over the globe,

obviously, are collecting
these shoes.

And what happens
when things are collected?

It drives up
the value.

And now, people are taking
these Air Jordans,

they're wearing them
with tuxedos.

Something had happened,
and it all filtered through

the world of Nike

and the world
of Michael Jordan himself.

And if you're a kid, your status
symbol was your $100 sneakers.

You're not buying something
like that to hide it.

The shoes gained, very quickly,
a huge street value

in American culture.

And so, suddenly, it spawned
violence and robbery.

Hill:
The demand of his product,

and products with
his name on it,

had reached a point where crimes
were basically being committed

to obtain product
that he was selling.

Telander:
There's always been style,
and there's always been people

wanting to keep up
with the Jones's.

I mean, you can go back
to caveman era,

you know, somebody's got
a cooler cheetah-skin belt on,

or loin cloth.

If you want that, you might take
a club, and whack him for it.

But here we are,
in a civilized society,

and the Jumpman logo
of the Air Jordans

had become so important
as a status symbol --

kids, teenagers
are seeing this status symbol,

and they're actually killing
each other for these --

for shoes.

I mean,
the thing I remember best

is still Rick Telander's cover
story in Sports Illustrated.

I feel like the sneakers
were a focal point

because it was something
relatively new.

Telander: I think I've got it
in here somewhere.

I keep all my Sports Illustrated
files up here.

So, that was 1990.

Well, I remember the shocking
aspect of this cover.

You have to look at it.

It's so dark, and you can't tell
what you're looking at.

And then, you realize
it's a guy with a gun,

he's grabbing the shoes that are
hanging over the shoulder.

I haven't looked at this article
in, I would say, 24 years.

It's mind-blowing.

I mean, it really is.

Is it the shoes? Money?
It's got to be the shoes.

It's Mars Blackmon to Michael
Jordan in a Nike commercial.

"For 15-year-old
Michael Eugene Thomas,

it definitely was
the shoes.

A ninth grader
at Meade Senior High School,

Thomas was found strangled
on May 2nd, 1989.

Charged with first-degree murder
was James David Martin, 17,

a basketball buddy."

The kid was murdered,
and left in the woods

for a pair of
two-week old shoes.

It's just...

I don't know.

It's, you know, within it
is something so primitive

and wrong that it --
it's just obvious.

But on the other side of it is,
what led you to this?

What led you to think that that
status symbol could possibly,

possibly be worth
somebody's life?

Like so many problems,

there's an answer
that seems very simple.

Throw the kid away.

Put him jail,
throw the key away.

And there's answers
that are very complex.

And it's always easy
to take the easy answer,

and just crack down more
on the law.

But how about solving
the problems

that lead somebody to this
in the first place,

that would feel so dispossessed
that they would think

that a life
is worth somebody's shoes.

Telander:
What led you to this?

What led you to think that that
status symbol could possibly,

possibly be worth
somebody's life.

Like so many problems,

there's an answer
that seems very simple.

Throw the kid away.

Put him jail,
throw the key away.

And there's answers
that are very complex.

And it's always easy
to take the easy answer,

and just crack down more
on the law.

But how about solving
the problems

that lead somebody to this
in the first place,

that would feel so dispossessed
that they would think

that a life
is worth somebody's shoes.

So, it's really a story
about scarcity.

The idea is that the brand
sells out every Saturday morning

when shoes are released,
and consumers come back

the next Saturday
for another shot at it.

And it's interesting
we're talking about scarcity

with a $3 billion brand.

But they have been able to build
this up over time by making sure

that they never had enough
supply to meet the demand.

Lazenby: Are Nike officials
wringing their hands with glee

over those profits
and growth?

Yes.

But that becomes very,
very awkward

when you consider
the ugly elements of that.

Once upon a time, not so long
ago, shoes were just shoes.

And basketball shoes
were no more glamorous

than any other piece
of sports equipment.

That was before Michael Jordan
learned how to fly.

When his success
went through the roof,

the shoes he endorsed for Nike
went right along with him.

And now, critics say they are
flying just a little too high.

Air Jordans are expensive,
exclusive, and hard enough

to get that some children lie,
steal, even kill for them.

A boy was robbed
after school.

It turns out, the bandit
was after his shoes.

Woman: Part of the problem
is that each store

has a limited amount
of about 150 pairs.

Male:
Reporter: He saw a gun under the
guy's shirt, and then a demand.

Female Reporter:
Each pair costs about $180,

but they resale on eBay
for almost $500.

A neighbor killed him
over a pair of Air Jordans.

He will be
buried tomorrow

on what would have been
his 17th birthday.

Man: Two young men had come home
from Willowbrook Mall.

They had pairs of
the new Air Jordan sneakers.

Two men attacked them with guns
as they pulled up to this house.

One of them jumped out,
ran door to door,

trying to get help,
while the other

jumped into
the driver's seat,

tried to drive away, but he was
shot at least once in the head.

The car careened out of control,
hit the side of this house,

ruptured a gas line,
and then the gunman got away.

All of this,
this attack

was over a pair of
those new Jordan shoes.

Retail value $185.

That may be the price
of a young man's life.

♪♪

Daisy:
My name is Daisy Williams,
and this mall here is the mall

that my son went to purchase
his Air Jordan tennis shoes.

My son left this mall,
headed home,

but he never made it
safely home to me.

Four gentlemen followed him
in their own vehicle,

and they pulled
in front of him,

and got out the car,
and demanded the shoes.

They started
shooting at him.

They shot my son in the head,
and he crashed into a home.

♪♪

This is the scene,
right there.

This is -- oh, this is --
this just brings chills to me.

I haven't been here -- I haven't
been here in a long time.

There was about
23 shell casings.

The shoes were
on the ground.

Again, there were a pair
of shoes here.

There were a pair of shoes
over there.

If you Google man shot and
killed over Air Jordan sneakers,

it's an actual video
where it shows my son.

It doesn't show my son
sitting in the car,

but it shows the car
still running.

It shows the ambulance
wheeling him around here,

and putting him
in the car.

and you can hear my daughter
screaming, like,

"Let us --
please let us get in with you."

[ Indistinct shouting ]

Woman:
I was at home.

I had just got off the phone
with him,

like five minutes before.
Told him I loved him,

And five minutes later,

his friend called me,
and told me he got shot.

And when we got to the scene,
I just ran up to the car,

and I seen him.

And I just kept saying,
"Josh, you got to get up.

It's your sister."

I just kept saying
he had to get up.

Daisy: And me and my fiance,
his father,

we was standing behind
the yellow tape.

And we say "Let's just see, when
they put him on the stretcher,

will they put
the sheet over him."

'Cause you look at
the movies,

if they put that sheet over him,
we know he gone.

And they took him out.

They had his face
wrapped up.

But they never put
the sheets over him.

And I was like, "Okay,
my son gonna be okay."

Man: Stay back.

And we followed the ambulance
to the hospital.

And at 5:35,
they pronounced him dead.

These were the pair of shoes
that he was buried in --

the Kilroys.

Me and my mom
had to pick out

what he was gonna
be buried in.

And my brother never wore
a suit and tie,

so it was like, we want him
to be buried in something that,

if he was alive,
he would, you know, wear.

That would just make me
feel happy, I guess,

to be buried in the same shoes
that he was buried in.

And Michael Jordan sent us
some shoes, and I have those.

Well, it's just one pair.

Man: Hold on,
hold on, hold on.

Michael Jordan sent you shoes?
-Yes.

But it --
to me, it just was like,

like, if a kid's crying,
you give a kid candy,

they're gonna stop crying.

I just felt like that's what
it -- that's what it was.

But the shoes that he sent,
they were 28s.

They're black and lime green.

When he sent us those,
they weren't out yet.

If I was to wear these
down the street,

if people look and say
"Well, they not even out yet,

and she have them,"
and then I die,

then my mom has another kid
that was buried over --

I mean, that was killed
over shoes.

So, I waited until,
like, a month

after they came out
to wear them.

I'm always going back
to these pictures.

This picture was after
he purchased his shoes,

and they were
in the car.

He actually got out the car,
and just took a picture of them.

And they were --
proceeded to head home,

and not realizing
they were being followed

at that time, actually.

This is my son's blood
in the car.

Looking at the pictures,
I -- I just...

If you don't mind, if we
could stop for a little bit?

♪♪

Woman: I'm not ready for trial,
but I'm just ready for --

for them to see us,
and know who Josh was,

and what they took
from us.

All over a pair of shoes.

Daisy: Alright.
Are y'all ready?

You nervous?

Just take
a deep breath.

You know, we doing this
for Joshua.

Man: We ask almighty God
that you give us the strength.

We ask that you gives us
your spirit.

Joshua cannot be here
with us today.

We thank you for waking us up,
again, once again,

so that we can be here in his
absence, and in his stead.

We begin with a Houston murder
case making national headlines.

Female Reporter: 22-year-old
Joshua Woods was shot and killed

for his new pair
of Air Jordans.

Male Reporter: Daisy Williams
watched with the rest of us

as the prosecution brought us
back to that day in December,

right before Christmas.

He raises the, gun and fires,
and then fires and fires

and fires,
as the car looses control,

and crashes into
the neighbor's house.

I mean, it's just ludicrous
to think that anybody would take

another human being's life
over pairs of sneakers.

Daisy:
My son is not the first one,
and I hope and pray

to the good lord
that he's the last one.

But we got to do something.

Nike, they have a responsibility
in this.

And they have
to do something.

And if nothing happens,
we'll see more cases like this.

You'll see more mothers
and fathers like me.

You'll see more
mothers and fathers

like the accused killers.

The Woods family says that
they want Nike to reconsider

how they market
their Air Jordan sneakers,

so that something like this
never happens again.

Man: And for those who don't
understand the process

by which Nike markets and sells
these Air Jordans,

what they do is, they create
a propaganda campaign...

Is it the shoes?

Money, it's got to
be the shoes.

...that stirs up the minds
of young people,

and makes them want
these shoes so bad.

But then, they put out
only a few of them.

Man #2:
One pair per customer.

And it's like,
if you have birds,

let's say,
on your porch,

and you throw out a few seeds.
Well, what's going to happen?

Those birds are hungry.

If they really want to
eat bad enough,

they'll begin fighting
one another.

And unfortunately, this
propaganda scheme by Nike,

that has been endorsed
by Michael Jordan,

is working on so many inner-city
youth across America.

And in this particular case,
it went so far

that a young man
lost his life.

Daisy:
That's a good question.

I actually extended
an invitation to them

to be here today.

Unfortunately,
I don't see them here.

Man: Nike is not here
because Nike doesn't care.

Michael Jordan isn't here
because he cares even less.

They will take
Joshua Woods' money,

but when he loses his life
for the very shoes

that he purchased
from them,

all of a sudden,
we don't hear from them.

In corporate America,
unfortunately,

profit is more important
than human life.

And maybe that's
trickling down

into the younger generation
here in America,

why they think that materialism
is more important

than human life.

Woman:
It just hurts.

'Cause you never think
somebody's life

will be taken
over a pair of shoes.

And it's like,
when my daughter gets older,

and when his son gets older,
we have to tell them,

you know, the real story,
like, why he was taken away.

And that hurts.

How do you explain to a kid that
their father and their uncle

is gone
over a pair of shoes?

It doesn't make sense.

Daisy: I was born and raised
here in Houston.

My children, my son
and my daughter,

was born and raised here.

I didn't ask for this.

This was brought to me.

And most people, they wouldn't
have survived this.

I am in no way, shape, or form
blaming Nike for my son's death.

But they can
say something.

If your son,
or if your daughter,

was Joshua Woods,

whatever you would do
if that if was your child,

that's what
I'm asking you to do.

♪♪

Telander: I thought,
when it happened,

that this was likely a --
just a flash point.

But it hasn't passed.

It's as though the Air Jordan,
the Jumpman,

has become
almost like a symbol.

It symbolizes
so much more.

It symbolizes something that can
actually make people happy.

It's at the root
of all advertising.

It's advertising
that worked too well.

Bengtson: I mean, the fact is
it's still going on now,

and, you know,
it's kind of unfortunate that

Rick wrote that cover story
25 years ago,

and you're still seeing
this stuff happen now.

Williams:
Jordan's sneakers,

they're jewels
in the eyes of young black kids.

And when you have
these types of jewels,

and you wear these types
of jewels on your feet,

especially in
the neighborhoods

where wealth and status
is scarce,

but heavily coveted,

you have things
like this happen.

Hill: The truth is,
when you have people,

especially these people who are
within proximity to one another,

in a community
that's underserved,

that every signal,
every message that they get

is that people don't care about
what happens to you.

They don't care about
offering you any opportunity

to achieve this American dream,
then, you begin to take on,

as they say,
the traits of the oppressor.

It becomes sort of
a self-fulfilling prophecy,

where nobody else thinks
my life is worth anything,

so why should I think somebody
else's life is worth something?

And so, unfortunately,
things like Jordans

become very big
status symbols

in communities of color,
and communities

that are historically
and presently underserved.

And the value of life
is just not as appreciated

when, you know, you're hearing
from every corner of society

how much
you're not worth.

It's hard for you to look
at yourself as worthy,

and certainly see that worth
in somebody else.

Jackson: You can't ever
look at a place

that's gonna teach you wrong
to treat you right.

Our history here in America
has not been one of correctness,

as far as treatment
is concerned.

So, to ask a subculture
inside this business,

you know, model that America
has built on our backs,

to a large degree.

All of a sudden, we start
wilding out on each other

for that,
to ask America to step in.

You know, yeah, Michael Jordan
could probably have taken

a stronger stance on this,
but at the end of the day,

we're still asking Nike
to do something.

Lazenby: The real problem is
they don't want to address it

in a meaningful way.

It is a big challenge, but there
has to be something meaningful

to find a way
to stop this trend.

Lazenby: The real problem is
they don't want to address it

in a meaningful way.

It is a big challenge, but there
has to be something meaningful

to find a way
to stop this trend.

Telander: Where does
the responsibility lie?

And really,
you do start at the top.

So, if the Air Jordans are in
the image of Michael Jordan,

shouldn't he have some say
about what's going on?

And part of the criticism
of Jordan is legitimate,

that he has not been
a social leader.

And other people say --
and I could argue, too --

why should he be?
He did enough on the court,

he did enough
as a businessman,

to transcend
any kind of criticism

you might want to lay on him
for not having gone out there,

and marched,
and had some big social program.

You know, why don't you
help these kids

instead of
exploiting them?

Knight:
I always wondered if it's one
of the things that he regrets,

that he didn't step in
at a certain time,

and say,
"Hey, knock it off."

I don't know what kids
would have done,

but it couldn't
have hurt.

You know,
could he have done more?

Yeah, he could
have done more.

You know, but Nike,
as a company,

should have done more, too,
possibly, if they really cared.

Nike has a history of standing
by their athletes, right?

And when they
get into trouble,

unless they're really
in trouble,

like Lance Armstrong,

they stand with them
very late in the game.

Brands used to be afraid
to share their values.

And now,
the consumer says,

"No, I want the brand to tell me
what their values are."

And I think this is a piece
of that corporate ethos now.

Nike will certainly
more than not

be looked at
on the right side of history --

as long as people
aren't naive

as to why they're on
the right side of history.

Not on the right side
of history

because they felt some deep
moral obligation.

They're on the right side
of history

because it
made them money.

They understand,
especially as a company

that was kind of built
on rebellion,

that they understand

that rebellion
is an attractive quality.

It's attractive
in the marketplace, you know?

The kids -- You needs kids
to certainly buy the shoes,

but you need them to push it,
and push it,

and make it
a cultural staple.

And so,
Nike understands that

so it makes all the sense
in the world for them to appear

as if they care
about social justice.

Bengtson: Obviously,
the responsibility spreads out.

You know, obviously, there's
some degree of responsibility

on virtually everyone, from the
company down to the criminal.

You know, when I look back
at the way

that first Air Jordan
release happened,

and when they released it
in 1985,

the initial supply
sold out immediately.

You know,
stuff was just gone.

And people were getting robbed
for their Air Jordans

back then, in 1985.

Or people were getting offered
an absurd amount of money

for them in the street,
immediately after buying them,

'cause they just
couldn't get them.

So, you know,
Nike's response to this

was kind of what people
want them to do now.

They made more.
They made a lot more.

And that second wave
of Air Jordans came out,

you know, which I'm sure
did help to a degree.

And a lot of people
did buy them

who couldn't have gotten them
the first time.

But unfortunately, a lot of them
sat, too, you know?

And there were original
Air Jordans

available two years later,

three years later,
for virtually nothing.

Nike, first and foremost,
and Jordan first and foremost,

I mean, they're
billion-dollar businesses.

You know, they didn't get
that way by doing things

like over-production.

You know, and I think they've
kind of honed their tactics

to the point where,
you know,

they know that, yes,
they're never gonna make enough

for everybody
who wants them to get them.

But I think
they also understand,

if they make so many
that they don't sell through,

and they wind up going on sale,
it ends up hurting their brand.

Williams: Nike has been very,
very passive,

and kind of, for the most part,
stood back on this.

But Nike also, you know,
has a little blood

on their hands, too,
when it comes to this.

Because they kind of created
this sense of urgency --

this is sense of demand.

And I think that type of
mindset has kind of carried on

through the entire legacy
of the brand.

I don't think it was intentional
by Nike, at all.

However,
they kind of created,

from the start, of,
"This is something rare.

This is something you have
to get your hands on."

Telander: The desire to have
what somebody else has

because you don't have it
is still there.

And, yes, there are still crimes
for these shoes,

for these products.

The things that
you walk in,

the things that you need
just to get through a day,

those things have taken on
a significance

that they never had,

and it's all because
of Air Jordans.

♪♪

Letterman: Alright, now,
Michael, is this shoe.

Now, of course, we can't show
what kind of shoe this is.

That's okay. The color
will stand for it.

But is this the shoe that
the NBA wouldn't let you wear?

Yeah.

Now, why wouldn't
they let you wear it?
Just because it's ugly?

[ Laughter ]

It's just a joke.

It's just a joke,
you know what I mean?

And here, we have the new
improved Air Jordan.

With some white in it.

Yeah, with some white in it.

Now, you get
a little something

for each of these sold,
don't you?

Yeah.
You working at it.

What a deal.
What a deal.

♪♪

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