All language subtitles for Unbanned.The.Legend.Of.AJ1.2018.1080p.WEBRip.x264.AAC5.1-[YTS.MX]

Downloaded from
YTS.MX

Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

He was like,
"Oh, wow."

Like, yeah, this-- this is...

this is authentic.

-I'm ready whenever...
-I'm answering you...

not the camera.

-Ow.
-Sorry.

I'm just teasing.

-That's a big question.
-Okay.

-Good. That's a good question.
-Hm, that's interesting.

Start that over.

Yeah, man.
Some shit's about to go down.

You literally were like, "Oh."

Oh, man.

That might be the hardest
question you asked me today.

It's a beautiful thing.

I mean, it's not that simple.

It's difficult for me to kind
of put it into words.

I'd love to give you the
kind of two minute, uh...

Wait. Uh, how are you
gonna ban greatness?

What was the question?
Just remind me to get back in.

Everyone has their own
connection to it, right?

The sneaker.
Somebody got shot for a pair.

That's what we're
gonna talk about.

That's the dumbest shit
in the world.

I'm not trying to take
a political stance with a shoe.

Now, get out of here please.

Damn. That really just changed
the entire course.

Hard to explain.

And it's...
it's like it's just a shoe.

You know...

I don't really remember a shoe

having that kind
of effect before.

I don't think they could
comprehend the impact.

It was about a red pair
of shoes.

It's got to be the shoe.

Yeah, motherfucker,
it is the shoes!

It was about
a red pair of shoes.

It rose like a phoenix
out of the ashes.

That gave a voice
to the voiceless.

Go.

It's got to be the shoes.

♪ Let's do it ♪

♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪

♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪

♪ Come on, come on ♪

♪ If man
Is the father of the son ♪

♪ Is the center
Of the earth ♪

♪ In the middle
Of the universe ♪

♪ Then why
Is this verse comin' ♪

♪ Six times rehearsed ♪

♪ Don't freestyle much
But I write 'em like such ♪

♪ Amongst the fiends
Controlled by the screens ♪

♪ What does it all mean
All this shit I'm seein' ♪

♪ Human beings
Scream vocal javelins ♪

♪ Sign of a local nigga
Unravelin' ♪

Chuck D, raptivist,
rap artist, Public Enemy.

Early 1980s,
I was 20 years old,

and knew he was in trouble
when Reagan became president

and Bush became vice president.

Here's
a brief segment...

You had slum, ghetto situations
of disenfranchised and then

non-servicing before.

But you didn't have
that particular drug

of cocaine going into crack

and you didn't have
the plethora of guns...

ever before.

It was not a good look
for people of color

and progressive people.

People, you know, are trying
to like express themselves.

You know,
whether it was a music artist

wanting to have
their own voice,

whether it was
a fashion designer

wanting to be avant-garde
and have their own voice.

Everybody wanted to have
their own voice.

There was something
that had been brewing.

-We wanted to be heard.
-We had gotten into

a very conservative movement
in the early '80s

where the moral majority
was coming out.

We had gone through
some economic hardships.

We had just come out of the
Vietnam War and Watergate.

So I think people were
looking for heroes.

People who were clamoring,

looking for someone to just
express our sensibilities

and our style and our taste.

I remember the environment
that I was in.

I was like,
"This... "This ain't it.

You know, there has to be more."

Not has to be.

I know there's more
to it than this.

Well, some
of the same things

that we were going through then
that still affects us today,

so as much as I like
to believe things have changed,

the-- some things
are just constant.

That decade was--
it was a certain

reality that had changed
from the '70s.

We are everywhere!
Fight that!

Graffiti is not an art.

-Give us what we want.
-Give us what we want!

Rise up! Fight back!

-Our street!
-Our street!

-Our street!
-Our street!

-Our street!
-Our street!

The NBA was in a fairly
precarious position.

Coming off those years
in the '70s,

the NBA was still viewed
as a niche sport.

The national television audience
at that time

being a largely white audience

and there was
a lot of speculation

that we'd never be able
to have a league

that had such a high percentage
of African-American players

and sell out to the public.

NBA action.

It's fantastic.

Despite the success
of Magic and Larry.

Like you-- that, you know,
it didn't have the feel

of Major League Baseball
or the NFL in terms of

broad popularity.

We were struggling
with some really unfair

stereotypes about NBA players.

Guys were doing
coke. Guys was doing pot.

Guys we're dying.

Guys were being banned
from the league.

And a fight
between J and Bird

has broken out on the court.

We were constantly
trying to upgrade

the public image of both
the game and the players.

So it was
an outlaw league and, again,

the ratings went down,
and the popularity went down.

And David Stern came in.

I was the commissioner
of the NBA from '84 to 2014.

It was a-- a difficult time
for the league

in terms of-- we didn't have
a TV contract to speak of.

There was no... video capture.

But I think we might
have been in a relationship

with Converse,
as the official shoe of the NBA.

And Converse had no idea
what to do with the NBA.

Just wanted to get
through the day.

It was that difficult.

If you knew
anything about Nike,

Nike stood on this kind
of rebel-ish behavior.

Almost a foundation
built on rebellion.

John McEnroe,

Prefontaine,

was rebels.

Answer my question!

The question, jerk!

Nike was a very volatile,

much smaller, but, um, very
aggressive and volatile place

and you really didn't know if
you had a job from day to day.

It was, quite frankly, crazy.

It was crazy. Was nutty.

My name is Tinker Hatfield
and I'm director of--

I don't even know my title.

Let me start this over.
I'm gonna make up one.

People didn't even know
how to pronounce Nike.

I mean, what is this?

There was a time when the people
of the outside world, the uh--

and the media were wondering
what's happening with Nike.

I'm Phil Knight.

Nike had lost touch
of who they were,

the integral company
that they had abandoned.

And I told Nike, you know,
"You guys gotta

get back to that.
That's who you are,

that's the heart and soul
of your company."

And they said,
"Nah, that's not us.

We're not that company anymore."
And I said,

"Well, you better fucking
get back to being that company."

Obviously,
I don't think you can foresee

what happened.

When you disrupt...

people can't help
but pay attention.

No one wants to walk
in the same shoes.

It's not real. That's not--

it's not how we're built
as human beings,

to all walk in the same way.

Trying to change the tone...

And there's always a look
for a stand

in one direction or another.

Uh, where that stand's
gonna come,

who's gonna unify,
when is enough?

And from time to time,
in every generation,

there's something--
there's some rebels

that kind of, shake stuff up.

And it's like Sam Cooke said,
"A change is gonna come."

Nothing much
I can do about it.

My name is Elizabeth Semmelhack

and I'm the creator
of the rising sneaker culture

and the author
of Out of the Box:

The Rise of Sneaker Culture.

Early sneakers
were actually symbols of status.

Created in
the middle of the 19th Century,

for lawn tennis.

The fact that you had
a rubberized sole

meant you could play
on damp grass.

And of course lawn tennis
was something that was enjoyed

by the privileged few.

But by the end
of World War II

sneakers become
the footwear of childhood

and they lose all status.

We didn't wanna be
associated with wearing sneakers

because people who wore sneakers
everyday didn't have money.

So we would carry
our sneakers to the park.

And it's not until the 1970s

that the sneaker is returned
to an item of status.

There was a time
in America, I mean,

it was all Converse.

Canvas Converse, white or black,

high top or low top.

And it cost five dollars
back in the day.

You had to beg your parents.

Five dollars for a sneaker
back in the day...

that was a lot of fucking money.

But when you got
your first pair of Cons,

the whole block
would come out.

That was the start
of hot shoes.

Chuck Taylor
is the first person

to have his name
on a sneaker.

If I asked the average person,

"What does Chuck Taylor
look like?"

They'd know the shoe,
but they don't remember him.

When I was growing up,
Dr. J had Converses.

And they would say,
"Hey, Dr. J,

where you get those moves?"

♪ Where'd you get
Those moves? ♪

♪ You move with such grace ♪

♪ Are you a member
Of the human race? ♪

♪ Hey, Dr. J. ♪

And we wore Converse
in the hood...

but we didn't like them
as much as we liked other shoes.

Fila was a big
hood sneaker for a while.

You know, I wore them,
but also wore other brands.

You could see Adidas around.
Like, you know,

a few people had Adidas,
a few people

had Converse,
or whatever your thing was.

Adidas is special
because of Run-DMC.

Word up, and we always rock
our Adidas on our feet.

♪ I wear my Adidas
When I rock the beat ♪

♪ On stage front page
Every show I go ♪

♪ My Adidas ♪

No. Let me start again.

If your sneakers slip and slide,

get the one
that's starts inside,

ask your moms, empty her purse

to get the ones
that say Converse.

I'm from the time
when it was weird to have

tons of sneakers.

Back in the day,
people would come in

and try on like,
five or six pairs.

Just cause the way
they looked on the wall,

instead of hunting and knowing
what you're coming for.

It was, like, you had to have
your own sense of style.

The game was, I'mma
walk into the sneaker store

every other day
and see what they got new.

It's just that--
it was weird to have

20, 30, 40, 50...

Like it was--
like, "What the fuck

are you doing
with that many sneakers?

Sneakers were always
a big deal in my house.

We grew up in
a very poor neighborhood.

If there was anything you were
gonna take care of

and-- and really cherish,
it was a pair of shoes.

Growing up in the hood

before we had cars,
we had shoes.

Our shoes were our Bentleys,
our Maybachs.

You know, that's what they were.
That's how we treated them.

Our connection, my connection

is they might make you
play better.

Dumbest thought in the world.

Now, that's who this shoe
was made for.

Magic Johnson
and Larry Bird

had shoes called Weapons.

And they did an ad
back-to-back

holding the-- the sneaker
like it was a gun.

Nobody cared.

They didn't really sell across
to New York City cats

just because guys played ball.

But everybody
didn't play basketball.

You didn't wait for
All-Star Weekend to come out

so that you can go buy...

Charles Barkley's sneaker.

You didn't really
wanna have anything to do

with your athlete idols
off court.

You just wanted to see them
on the field.

And then
when you saw them,

you know,
post-game interviews

or if you were lucky enough
to catch them in the street

or whatever it was...

you're like,
"Wait. This is the guy

that I idolize on,
which his style is so weird."

If you was a good
basketball player

that was second
to being a good hustler.

We didn't wear basketball
sneakers around Harlem.

Sneaker culture
in basketball,

everything was really
kind of basic and generic.

It was white and black,

white in the team color.

Everybody kind of had
the same formulas.

It was just cup soles
and standard toe cups,

and then you would have
every brand

to stamp their logo
along the middle.

Things were stale
and a little flat in the world

of basketball shoes.

Jason Mayden,
former senior design director

for Jordan brand.

I wouldn't call myself
a sneakerhead.

I mean, you never get high
off your own supply.

You don't do that.
Rules of the game, man.

You can't make the stuff
then covet the stuff.

In '84, I became
a fulltime employee

for like--
I'm not a shoe designer,

I'm a very good
problem solver though.

A lot of Nike's original
designers didn't come from

industrial design. They came
from different disciplines.

And so they knew
how to manipulate

-materials and processes.
-In '84,

Nike was not a design company.

It was a half-ass
shoe company.

And it was more
of a marketing effort

than it was anything else.

Adidas was killing Nike,

marketing-wise.

They were like the fashion hit,
not Nike.

And the shoes weren't selling.

Our main objective
was to get into basketball.

Even though they had some sales
to a 16-year-old kid

that we were trying to attract

didn't think of Nike
as anything other than

a running shoe company.

Well, it may be the
20th century and all that

but there are still
people out there who run

as if their life
depended on it.

We weren't part
of any federations.

We didn't support
the NBA, or the NFL, or...

It was kind of some kind
of a controlled, uh, mayhem.

That was a very
early time period and,

you know,
we had Moses Malone.

Big boy'd just become MVP.

They had just won
a championship.

We had quite
a few players.

But Converse had Bird,

Isaiah, Mark Aguirre, you know.

So they had a large pool.

And we were kind of the upstart,

up and coming company.

When you ain't
got the ball,

you can't shoot the ball.

Nike.

Peter Moore knew
that they wanted something

to be revolutionary

and change people's eyes
and how they looked at things.

He was fascinated by air,
flight.

They really loved
the idea of flying.

I was fascinated
because of the opportunities

that it would allow you
to ride on air.

-You needed flare.
-...against two.

Bird a runner. It's good.

You needed showmanship.

What a pass.
Magic Johnson...

You needed air.

We had a lot of good players.

We had a lot of players
on uh, the NBA All-Star Team.

But we didn't really have
a marquee player.

We didn't have anybody
that was First Team, All-NBA.

And we needed to get a player
that could play at that level.

And I mean the whole
marketing thing with Nike

was Rob Strasser's
genius idea to attach

an athlete to the brand.

So he calls
Sonny Vaccaro,

who was his basketball guy.

Sonny Vaccaro said,
"We need to sign the kid."

That was the phrase
he used, "the kid".

What do you mean
we need to sign the kid?

We have $500,000.
We wanna sign three players.

He goes, "No.
You only need one player."

-Steal by Dr. J.
-Johnson.

-McHale...
-...to Larry Bird.

-Malone for the dunk.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabaar.

Who could be a guy
who could fly through the air?

Who could be our Jumpman?

Here goes Jordan
for the dunk. Holy hell.

♪ Come on, come on, come on ♪

I'm just a freshman
on the block.

The tie... 18.

-Jordan!
-Jordan!

...with Michael Jordan...

I'm Roy Firestone.
I'm a broadcaster.

In 1984, I interviewed
Michael Jordan.

I think he might have been
19 years old.

The word is that Michael Jordan
is going back

to North Carolina next year,
will not turn pro.

Have you definitely
made up your mind?

Can you say it
without equivocation

-that you're going back?
-Yes, I think can.

But right now
I am gonna be coming back.

Michael Jordan
wasn't even sure

if he was gonna come out
of the 1984 draft.

He wanted to stay
maybe his senior year

at North Carolina
but he wasn't sure.

When we were scouting Michael,
we obviously

had the opportunity
to see him at North Carolina.

They played a passing game,
teammate oriented.

Not very much
one-on-one basketball.

I would never
make it as a scout.

I certainly
don't remember thinking

in college when I watched him,
that I could be watching

possibly the greatest player
ever to play the game.

And I saw him a fair amount.
I was at Duke,

ACC schools and huge
Carolina rivalry.

Here's James Worthy,
the great

All-American
power forward...

James Worthy,
Sam Perkins, Brad Daugherty,

I mean, it was a great
a Carolina program.

They're gonna take
Michael Jordan out of the game.

He was All-American.
He won the Wooden Award.

But he wasn't a flashy,
thrilling player.

He wasn't Kobe Bryant
in high school even.

You knew he was good,

but he was a component part
of a great team.

In '84, Jordan is ready
to come back

for his senior year of college
and Dean Smith tells him,

"No, it's time to leave."

The same thing
with James Worthy.

It's like it became an edict
from the coach

that it was time
for you to leave

because it was too risky
for you to stay otherwise.

You're ready for the NBA.

Today, live from the
Felt Forum in New York City,

The USA Network presents

the 1984 NBA College Draft.

And in that draft
you had the number one pick

in the NBA, Hakeem Olajuwon
from Nigeria.

The number two pick
was Sam Bowie,

drafted by the Portland
Trailblazers.

And that left us with Michael.

The Chicago Bulls...

pick Michael Jordan

from the University
of North Carolina.

There were people
who would tell you

that they thought Michael Jordan

was the best player
in the 1984 draft,

but he was a six-foot-six
shooting guard.

You drafted centers.
If there was an available center

that you thought could be
a game changer,

that would be
who you would take.

I think if we had
the first pick,

we might have taken Olajuwon.

1984 Olympics
were here.

The United States Olympic
basketball team was here.

Michael Jordan was playing
on that basketball team.

George Raveling was an
assistant coach of that team.

And his best friend
was Sonny Vaccaro.

They went to Tony Roma's
in Santa Monica.

David Falk,
Michael Jordan's agent was there

and they started to talk.

We didn't know
anything about Michael Jordan.

All I knew about Jordan

is he's the son of a bitch
who shot the shot

that beat Georgetown,
which was

our school,
you know.

So why are we gonna go
get this guy?

And your only wisdom was,

"Well, let's get three of them."

You know, Olajuwon
was the number one pick.

Barkley was the most
fun-looking guy

in all of college basketball.

And then you have
a little white guy

from Gonzaga,
John Stockton.

I had seen Jordan
beat Georgetown.

I don't understand
Nostradamus thing.

Except I knew he was right.
I said, "It's Jordan."

And they were, "Okay, well,
we got this much money,

we'll give them this much.

And we'll give Barkley
this much

and we'll give
this guy that much."

And I said, "No.

Give 'em all the money
you have. Go all in.

You got to give
the kid everything you got.

You know, he's worn
Converse in college.

It's acknowledged
he wants to be an Adidas guy

because they have
these flashy sweatsuits

and all that sort of stuff.

So you knew
he wasn't waking up

wanting to be a Nike guy."

So we start
finding out about him.

We watched him after the games,
and he had a great smile

and he looked like
a good kid.

Competitive like hell.

Coming into this world,
he was very, very naive.

He had his parents
and David Falk

negotiating for him.

We ended up going
to Converse,

and Converse presented
their image.

And Michael would be just
like everybody else.

And his dad asked
the famous question,

"Don't you have
any new creative ideas?"

And they looked around
at each other like,

"What does that mean?

Like we're gonna treat him
like Bernard King or Dr. J?

Isn't that enough?"

The answer was no.
It wasn't enough.

We wanted to be different.

He just didn't like division.

They won the Olympics.

And then he was coming out
with his parents and his agent.

And he had proclaimed to,
"Hey, you know what?

Why don't you all just
go out there,

and tell me what you saw.

I'm tired, been traveling."

He said
he wasn't gonna sign.

He didn't wanna come
to Nike.

He didn't wanna come out
to Portland, Oregon.

And the insistence
of his parents.

"No. You are going
out there."

And they came.

I told him that

he wouldn't have
their level of artistic freedom,

at a very
established company,

he'd have at a younger
entrepreneurial company.

In '84, you didn't make
presentations to athletes.

What we did is we showed
his mom and dad, him,

things that they've
never seen before.

They made
a music video

where they put together
a series of highlights

from college
and the Olympics.

Michael didn't crack
a smile the whole time.

He looked like
he was hating it.

The shoe money is the fuel
that pumps college basketball.

It's because one
great basketball player

can have such an effect
on the bottom line.

My name is Bomani Jones
and I work at ESPN.

You look in the 1980's,

the idea seems to make
a lot of sense.

Okay, we got a star,
he's wearing our shoes,

we'll be able to move
a lot of shoes.

But it wasn't yet
at that point

where it was such a variable
that pushed everything

as it is right now.

But Larry Bird,
Magic Johnson,

these players,
they were as big of names

in that era as anybody.

The most anybody ever made
in a shoe deal,

might have been $100,000.

Maybe a little less
for Kareem,

even though he was
a six-time NBA MVP.

Didn't matter because
it didn't mean anything.

Somebody had to come up
with an idea.

We worked very hard.
We campaigned.

We had to woo the agent.

We had to woo the parents.
Then we had to woo the man.

And the one thing
the guy could really do

was he could jump.

I mean he could
really jump.

He could jump out of a gym.

He's a flyer.

♪ New York
London, Tokyo ♪

♪ We're flying over the world
Conveying the globe ♪

♪ We got worldwide status
Wherever we go ♪

♪ Hot, cold, 57,
Man, you already know ♪

♪ Whatever, man,
You already know ♪

Jordan speeding into ball game.

Jordan, look at that!

Holy cow!

That connected to air.

As a matter of fact,
some of the negotiations

with David Falk began

in a place called
the museum of flight.

Well as soon
as we walk into the room,

Falk, he's got all kinds
of ideas for us and Jordan.

Nike,
this air thing is pretty big.

And there this
new this new guy, Jordan.

One of his ideas
was that he thinks

we oughta call him Air Jordan.

You know, I'm like, that kinda
has a little ring to it.

Air Jordan by Nike.

Rebound Jordan.
He changed hands...

That took Mr. Knight
a while to get used to,

because he didn't like
that much at all.

So I'm flying home
with Rob.

I see the stewardess

give a kid a set of wings.

I start sketching
on a cocktail napkin

this airline's wings
with a basketball in the middle.

When we showed him the shoes
and showed him the apparel,

it was all gonna be built
around Air Jordan.

We wanna make you the shoe.

Not, "How'd you like
to endorse a shoe?"

"How'd you like
to have your own shoe?"

I mean,
this never been done before.

Phil Knight was told...

that it'll be
the death of Nike...

to have a black man
as the face of your company,

that white America...

would not come to terms...

or purchase...
Nike products.

Like, it goes back to like
back when they used to say,

"Well, we can't sell--

we can't sell records

with putting a black face
on the cover."

I mean, what kind of
shit is that?

You know 30 years
ago people were a lot

more narrow-minded
and they thought

that there was only an appetite
for a certain perspective.

They didn't know
what they were getting into.

And then they executed shit
and took chances,

and were like,
"Fuck it, let's go for it."

He didn't know it then
what that meant.

He hasn't bounced a ball
in the NBA yet.

The definition of visionary,

people see something,

but other people
can't see it yet.

You really couldn't put it--
You know, no one--

Oh, yeah.
This is what we gonna do.

We gonna build this up.
We gonna make this.

Yeah, okay, great.

You know, it's--
it's kind of like Michelangelo.

You know, he really
did not want to do

the Sistine Chapel.

And he considered himself
this sculptor.

And Pope asked him
about painting the chapel,

and he said, "No.
That's just not who I am."

I think there's
an inherent pressure

on that too, by the way.

"Hey, my shoes are gonna be
named after me?"

And low and behold,
they convinced Michelangelo

to paint the chapel.

And he looked at his mom
and said, "You know,

I still think maybe
I should go to Adidas."

And she says "No,
you're gonna go to Nike.

We're gonna make a shoe
named after you."

So often times

when the universe
is ready to create,

the party may
or may not be willing...

but they come together.

And he looked at his mom
and said, "Where do I sign?"

♪ Clap your hands ♪

The signing of Michael
Jordan is possibly

the biggest and
most important event

in Nike's history.

My favorite
criticism, uh,

from the signing
of Michael Jordan,

was Fortune Magazines
that, uh,

there's no greater sign
that Nike has lost his way

than to pay $250,000

for an untried
basketball player.

African-American
athletes weren't really

getting endorsement deals
to the extent

that they are today.

It sounds
preposterous to think.

To see somebody
who you can identify with,

that looks like you,
and also something that...

is going against the grain,
that's not the norm.

And that could be
very inspiring.

He had just
come out of college.

Nike invested
a lot in him.

He hadn't proven himself.

I met Michael right
after the draft personally.

In them days, we didn't have
great interviews.

We didn't have
shooting drills before.

You didn't know how strong
he was until we got him.

There was just
this complete fire drill

to get a shoe put together
for him really quickly.

Because we actually
didn't have the shoe ready.

If you're smart
and clever and efficient,

you can use existing pieces
in a new way.

And Peter Moore
was very efficient.

In the case
of the Air Jordan I,

was to somehow infuse it
with Michael Jordan's

personality and character.

It's like a Ferrari,
but you still need

a great driver.

And we had a very good driver.

We wanted something
distinctive.

Or really an exclamation.

I was always
fascinated with the idea

that you're running on air.

The idea that you could
sky, flying.

Uh, and Michael Jordan
was a flyer.

All of those things
together created

a new and special spirit.

You have to remember, in '84,
the era of the design

hadn't happened yet.

Nike had a couple
of pattern makers.

That was as close
to designers as-- as it got.

Today,
it's just different.

When we signed Michael,

he was very unfamiliar
with Nike shoe.

Didn't like Nike shoes,

because he said
that they were too high,

and he needed to feel

closer to the floor.

He had big concerns
about the air

because he felt he might get
too high off the ground.

Get too high
off the ground,

you're gonna sprain an ankle.

And back then,
shoes were pretty simple.

They were basically leather
with a rubber cup sole.

Sometimes they would have
some foam exposed,

but there wasn't
much technology

going on in the shoe.

And then it was Peter Moore
who lowered the air-bag

and he could feel that.

Nobody was worried
about style

and what it looked like.

They were worried
about how it worked.

So the idea of combining
functionality and practicality

and the aesthetic of it all.

In the mid-80s,

all those things
were coming together.

I think sneakers
are the epitome

of what perfect design
can wind up being.

Essentially, anyone
can be wearing it

but your style
ultimately determines

how it really plays out.

And one of the things
that I've learned the most

about being a designer
is that...

I don't wanna live
within those bounds,

I wanna be able
to push out those walls

because when I live
within the rules

of the industry,

we all kinda go the same path.

When it came
to the shoe,

I had this idea
to break the color barrier.

I wanted to give these kids
something that they could

sort of show their stuff with.

So I looked around with
what was

going on in the industry,

what was going on
with kids.

There was no color,
no excitement,

no anything in these shoes.

And yet you went
to the high school camps

and things like that,
these kids are trying

to do 360 slam dunks. They're--
you know, they got color, man.

♪ You want it, you got it
Come get it ♪

♪ Get with it, it's yours ♪

♪ Call me weak, I just peak
And get stronger ♪

♪ What I'm doing
Is free-styling ♪

♪ Meanwhile I'm profiling ♪

♪ Getting set and getting paid
Give me some room ♪

♪ I'mma start
flexing, flexing ♪

You know, the question
becomes, "Can he wear this?

You know,
can he pull this off?"

Because it's-- I mean,
he's gonna take some shit

from other players

when he walks out there
like this.

And then the sneaker
comes out...

that is bright and bold.

That black and red,

and looks like nothing
you've ever seen before.

It's got like presence to it.

The shape of it, the look of it,

I just was like, "This
is nothing I've ever seen."

It was so different
that you had to like it.

It was game-changing.

♪ I predicted it just right ♪

♪ You know the shit is tight
Every time I'm on the mic ♪

♪ You see me on the stage look
Around the crowed is hyped ♪

♪ This shit is regular, man
This what my life's like ♪

I do remember seeing
Michael's shoes come out.

And, uh, at first
I think everybody thought

it was, uh,
a little bit strange.

Mike Jordan, not Jackson,

he doesn't wear
one white glove.

He wears strange-looking
sneakers.

I saw it and I went,
"Interesting."

Color was a big
piece of it.

It was a little bit
of irreverence

and something
that no one else was doing.

This culture,

we're really kind of obsessed
with nostalgia.

It's like it was way
before its time.

It's gonna catch
somebody's eyes.

it's gonna give you an opinion,

it's gonna have
an impact on you

because it's not
what you're used to seeing.

Michael Jordan did not
wanna wear these colors.

He wanted to wear powder blue,
North Carolina colors.

And I said, "No, you
play for the Chicago Bulls.

That's got to be between you
and Mr. Reinsdorf, you know.

I can't change the colors
of the basketball team."

It was actually
this really clever marriage

of shoe and athlete,

and how there was
a story now to tell.

It just felt like the--

he was doing what he was doing
because of the shoe.

Nobody has ever taken
a team player

and turned them into...

a personality

that you could market around.

So we were gonna break
some rules

to get him there.

In this conversation
with Michael,

I started to realize that not
only am I talking to the best

young basketball player,

I'm also talking to somebody
who actually had

a really good eye,
a really good fashion sense.

It was the first time
you saw a person,

on a court,
look just as good off the court.

And kids in the street
gonna look like that person.

I couldn't dress like Dr. J.
Dr. J was in a suit.

I couldn't dress like some
of the heroes from the 70s.

It was totally different.

You know, no one else had worn
colored shoes before,

and I felt like
I wanted to be different.

♪ One, two, get down ♪

I think
it only enhanced my game.

You know my game
at that time was...

very unique within itself.

Played in the air.
Unafraid.

Looked in the face
of adversity

to try to overcome.

It just felt authentic
to the style of play,

to the way the sport
had been played

up to that point,
and to a guy

that sort of said,
"Oh, what about this?"

But really it's like,
that's the beginning

of trendsetters.

I think a lot of people
around the NBA

are talking about
Michael Jordan.

Michael got to realize
that he's not seven foot,

so he's not gonna
carry a team in the NBA.

In the NBA,
there's really not

any such thing
as a one-man team.

And I don't think that
you can come in expecting

one guy to turn
the whole thing around.

♪ Paid the cost
to be the boss ♪

Turns out
he was exactly the guy

who could pull it off.

Unbelievable.
Larry Bird at the buzzer.

I can't imagine
what it must have been like

if you were an established
NBA player

and then this dude
walks in here,

and he's taking
on everybody.

Larry Bird was the darling
of the league, right?

Everyone loves Magic.

And then suddenly
the shoes come out.

Right? Like, you've been
a top basketball player.

Every room you walk into,
you are the man.

Now, when this dude walks in,
he's the man.

And he just showed up here.

I can't imagine how
infuriating that has to be

if you're just another guy
in the NBA.

There wasn't a player
at that time

who had really
thumbed their nose

to the league before.

And surely not a black man.

And then you understand
that everybody wanted

to be in these shoes.

It doesn't matter
what color you are.

I wanna be a part of that.

Well, it just opened up
a whole new horizon for,

um, players to be able
to express their individuality.

I think there was this...

desire...

on the part of us, and Michael,

to be different,
to be leaders,

to do things differently,
which...

almost always requires
some breaking of rules.

What Nike
and Michael Jordan

created together
was a game changer.

And I think the most
creative people

in any facet

are the ones that are those
rebels that do that.

They don't wanna live
by the rules.

They wanna understand
the rules

but they don't
wanna live by them.

Rod Thorn
who was my general manager

came down and said
he got a phone call

from the league."

Shoes were not uniform

to what's required
with the NBA.

Oh, my goodness,
well we screwed up now.

We have the shoe,
and David Stern throws

a wrench in the thing
by saying,

"You can't wear that shoe."

The turning point was
when the NBA banned...

his shoes.

They were worried.

You know, he's a rookie
in the league

and he's now done
something against his contract.

Michael didn't wanna be
a distraction.

Michael is respectful,

and his parents raised him
to be that way.

Why the hell
would you ban a shoe

that matches a uniform?

Or you banned it
because it looks cooler

than every other shoe
on the court?

Are the other guys jealous?

Are the guys on the
other teams jealous?

Is it because it says his name?

Really didn't understand
the ramifications

of what was really happening.

I didn't know the guidelines.
I didn't know the rules.

Um, I thought,
"Hey, just-- you know,

you sign a shoe contract,

you design yourself a shoe,

you go out and you play
in the shoe.

We didn't start
with a lot of rules.

If we came upon something
that didn't exist,

we would say,
"You can't do that."

Then the next year,
we would put it

in the operations manuals.

Basically, we had the--

some fights
with David Stern early on.

We used to have some issues
with all apparel companies.

Because as we were trying
to construct the league,

we became
quite protective of it.

The NBA,
I thought was encroaching

on our contractual rights,
and they thought

we were taking over their

basketball arena,
I guess.

We had a lot of problems.
There were countless sponsors

who would say to us,
"Well, we really don't think,

uh, the NBA can appeal to, uh--
to our market."

And we were constantly fighting
against those kinds of things

in trying to upgrade the--
and the public image

of both the game
and the players.

There was just a tremendous
amount of attention

to this-- this new young player
and this shoe

and of course Nike.

And I think
it scared the NBA.

I should be careful here.

I have to kind of
edit myself a little bit.

Michael Jordan
was just out of his teens

when he signed
this deal with Nike.

And the whole world
changed for him.

I was told
that we had a problem

because the shoe was--
had too much black in it.

Uh, if we weren't careful,
we'd end up with, uh,

five players on the court
for a team running around

in five different color shoes

and we didn't think
that reflected well

on the team notion.

Uh, white or black, that's it,

or with accents of your uniform.

Outside of that,
no, not gonna happen.

We're not gonna have that here.

The ban frankly
was just David Stern

being David Stern.

Yes. There was a rule
that the shoes

had to match the uniform, but...

...we-- we did that.

I mean, it--
it was the Bulls' colors.

It wasn't like you could do
them in Carolina blue.

At the end of the day,

the Bulls' color
was red and black.

I wanna make sure
that the shoe

is aesthetically
pleasing to the eye.

Nike was...

really confused
about it at the time,

but they said, "Well, okay.

Well, we'd think about--
we'll try to find

some-- some other ways
but in the meantime

just keep wearing 'em."

I don't think anybody here
at that time had any idea

that it was breaking
any kind of rules

as far as design code, and--

And, frankly,
I don't think it did.

Rob's reaction was,
"Well, we're screwed.

We're done."

Rob had ordered
about 50,000 pairs

of these shoes.

They were done,
being delivered.

You know, we figured
we're gonna eat them.

Rob goes back to New York
to meet with Stern.

I don't even remember
what the motivation

might have been for the rule.

It was not a high priority
at the time.

Stern's...

not sympathetic.

You know, the decision was
a rule's, a rule.

We have to tell the Bulls
and, I guess, Nike.

Michael wouldn't be allowed
to wear the shoe.

On the way out the door,
Stern says,

"But, Rob, my son thinks
I'm a jerk also,

but can you send me a pair

of those shoes for my son?"

You're not gonna get David Stern
on camera to say...

...to fess up on that though.

He ain't doing that.

My actions
weren't the source

of great accolades
in my home.

When I wore 'em
the second time,

the league came back saying,

"Well, wear them again,
you're gonna get fined $5000."

Well, now , obviously,
I-- I didn't have $5000

to be giving to anybody
at that stage in my career.

Yeah, for them it was like...

"Oh, yeah, okay.
We might can work with that.

Okay, let's just pay the fine."

You have to respect
how powerful that was

to culture and to the world.

It wasn't like
an alternative.

And it was just money.

I mean, they didn't say,
"You can't-- you can't play."

Stern was old school,

he just didn't like
the idea that...

this guy was gonna stick out.

So, he understood
what we were doing.

You know, he's gonna
protect his league.

It wasn't that the league
was saying,

"You can't wear
this special tread,

or it's gonna give you
a competitive advantage."

It was fashion,

and in fact,
it didn't affect performance

in any way.

It was about
a red pair of shoes.

And here, Michael,
was living within these...

this overly restrictive
league that was saying,

"You can't even wear
red basketball shoes

on the court."

One of two things
could've happen.

Nike could have been like,
"Oh, yes.

Yes, Mr. Stern.

We're so sorry.

We'll get these to him
in white tomorrow

and everything will be fine."

And they were like...

"No."

You know,
because Nike was gonna pay

for the 82 games
of playing with this shoe.

And the league said,
"Well, we gotta stop that."

Let's not forget, like,

if Michael Jordan's making
X amount of money.

The league
and the powers that be

are making oo-de-lallys more,

and essentially feel like,
"We can tell these motherfuckers

what to do.

When to jump, when to shoot,

when to sit down,
when to talk, all of it,

because at the end of the day...

they got the keys.

Those acts are like trying
to stomp out

people being individuals,

people expressing themselves.

It wasn't like athletes
were able to express

who they were
by their shoes.

Like, they were really cool

and they had, like,
decent shoes.

No one had ever had a shoe
that was a statement like,

"This is me."

What it did is it announced
a new era, it was a new guard.

There was somebody
that didn't care about the rules

because the rules were outdated.

Someone who doesn't want
their parents,

their schools,

their job to shut them down
from their dream.

It kind of exploded

because it wasn't just
for us anymore.

It was like for the world.

It's like we wanted the world--
we wanted to be heard,

and that was something
that we felt like could really

sort of speak to the world,
and say, "We're here."

Because every other part of--
at least American culture,

was sort of trying
to silence a people.

Understanding everybody's
point of view, the differences,

accept that...

and be aware of that,

and be aware
of where we are today.

It's not too far off.

It's a problem
when you're that good.

There's really
not any such thing

-as a one-man team.
-You're that special.

I don't think anybody
had any idea

that it was breaking
any kind of rules.

-You're that defined.
-We've got 50,000 of them

-on the water.
-Nike was really

-pissed off about it.
-And you're that different.

-You're that other.
-They held their breath

at Nike.
What did we do?

-Why the shoe get banned?
-How you gonna ban

-greatness?
-You just have to understand

-the-- the context.
-You know,

he violated the rules.
He wore the shoes.

Michael Jordan was so powerful.

There'd be some
appropriate penalty

to make sure that the rule
wasn't violated.

There was concern
that it was too much.

You just can't be regular.

So then,
you stand at the crossroads...

You know what, this thing

right here might be something.

Might be something
just a little special.

But this was one
of those holy shit moments.

Something different
is happening here,

and I wanna be a part of it.

There's all these, like...

weird things
that all layered up perfectly

for where the world was at

in some, like, NBD,
never been done before,

to change the direction

of an entire society.

I was just reading
a little article

about the NBA banning, uh,
Jordan's shoes.

It just clicked for me.

Well, it was Rob Strasser
that got the letter,

and when I finished the letter,

I said, "Yes."

I wrote this simple spot,

and so I took that
into my creative director.

And he said,
"Hey, I love it."

But they don't have
any more money,

their whole budget's
been spent.

So, he told me to fly up
to Beaverton

and see if you can sell it
to them.

I'd never directed a commercial
on my own before.

I said,
"Look, give me thirty grand,

and I'll make it happen."

On September 15th,

Nike created a revolutionary
new basketball shoe.

On October 18th,

the NBA threw them
out of the game.

Fortunately,
the NBA can't stop you

from wearing them.

Air Jordans from Nike.

The NBA can ban it,

but they can't stop you
from getting it.

Phew.

Brilliant.

The only thing
that you get

from trying to silence something
is that

you make it even more colossal,

and more impactful.

When you're 14,
13 years old,

those...

I want those.

It's-- It's liberating.

The league says,

I can't wear this,
they like, fuck them.

I'm getting a pair."

I'm rolling with Mike.

It was a statement
anti-establishment.

We don't need to play
by the rules.

We're bigger than the rules.

A spirit of rebellion,
a spirit of youth,

a spirit of individuality.

You can't knock me down,
you can't make me feel inferior,

and, like, not only
am I dressed like you,

but I'm-- I'm also wearing
cooler sneakers than you.

That's what I like, man.

The kids that say, "Fuck it,
I'm gonna do it my way."

I'm not gonna follow
all the peers

and follow all of the--
the bullshit.

Being unique
to who you are.

Make your own mark on the world.

You don't wanna be
just like them.

They were banned.

Outlawed, you know,
counter culture.

Stand up against the man,
you know.

That's the way
it was interpreted.

Oh, left hand.
Hey, K.O. by love.

I think the rebel part of it
is about change.

We're gonna power
our way into culture.

We're gonna yell
as loud as we can,

and hold our Johnsons.

To be a part of that,

just by having
the pair of shoes.

Oh shit, like,

The AJ 1 is it.

This is the sneaker.

Then it just became this thing,
it was like The Grail.

"Holy shit, man,
you got-- oh, my God."

You know, it just--
it became lore.

It became that thing
that you had to have.

You know, as a young kid
who didn't want what was hot?

The 50,000 pairs
were gone like that.

Every night,
I'm gonna lace up these shoes,

and I'm gonna do things...

that are so beautifully
fucked up

in them, artistry,

you really can't tell me shit.

Before you know it...

what's David Stern gonna do

when Michael Jordan
has the whole planet

behind him.

I thought it was a...

a genius marketing campaign,

but they were never banned.

Once anything gets banned

it becomes the coolest thing
in the world, right?

It doesn't matter what it is.

Once somebody says,

"You're not supposed
to have it."

Then all of a sudden,
everybody has to have it.

And then, it becomes easier
for an urban legend

to start around.

They had
so much of a frightening dare,

and ego and exuberance
that the NBA had to put

bans on the players expressions.

I was under the impression that
he wore them every game,

they were banned
because of the colors.

They were banned because there
wasn't enough white in them.

The league sent a letter
to Nike, saying that

they were getting fined
because it wasn't approved.

And he's continued
to wear them every game

and Nike was fined $5000.

And we were more than willing
to pay the fines.

I knew more about the fine,
like, later in life.

Like, that became part
of, like, the legend.

The shoe was brought
to the NBA for approval

because his-- the season
was starting right there.

I remember
being brought into an office

where I was shown the shoe,

and I was told
that we had a problem.

I don't have any recollection

of, uh, when I first saw them.

Now, for some reason that I--
I really don't recollect.

I authored a, uh--
and signed a letter...

uh, to Nike

that advised them
that the shoe was, uh,

was not--
did not meet our rules.

It was banned by the NBA.

David Stern banned
the Air Jordan,

there's no question.

They didn't comply
with league rules,

but they were never banned.

They were never banned.

We've been talking
about them a lot recently.

There's been a lot of noise

-in the history of the shoe.
-Arguably,

the most important factor
in its colorway's appeal,

is the fact that it's banned
by the NBA, or so we thought.

And many believed the Airship
is actually the shoe

that was banned by the NBA.

Ban name on these and help
it sell, but what happened...

But many of you
heard the story...

...but none of that
has been confirmed.

However, it seems
the colors were accurate

in regards to being banned
by the NBA,

but not the shoe itself.
In our Complex article

Russ Bengston explains in detail
how the Nike Airship

was a catalyst for the NBA's ban
on the colorway.

As you can see in this video,
MJ is sporting

the Nike Airship
during pregame

prior to his
Madison Square Garden debut.

Maybe it's the Airship
that's banned,

or it might be the Air Jordan I.

Right? We don't know exactly
which one.

No one really is right.

I think if anyone tries
to overthink

what happened back then,

they're missing the point.

The beauty of the urban legend

is it can be basically
for whatever you want it to be.

It almost doesn't matter
after that point.

Designing
a physical product

for an athlete is what
my background is focused on.

Basic timeline
for that process

is anywhere from 18 months,

all the way out to five years.

Uh, the meeting that we had

and, uh, with Falk,
was in August,

and we wanted him
to play basketball

in the product
in the end of September,

or first part of October.

So, we had to get...

all of this done.

We couldn't do that
with a brand new shoe,

we didn't have enough time.

You know, it was, uh...

an impossible task, frankly.

So, Airship became the shoes
that he would wear

while his shoe
was being prepared.

And we colored the Airship
in red, black, and white.

So he was gonna have to start
to play in look-a-likes

because I didn't want him
wearing white shoes

then all of a sudden,
showing up in colored shoes.

The idea was that
this colorways was his shoe.

I think the-- the reason
why so much is made

about what could or couldn't be,

or will or won't be true,

or what day
or who said, and why

was because it's this rookie,

this brand-new shoe
that looks totally different

than everything else,

and it's breaking the rules,

and he's not even
two months in.

When you don't understand
something,

there's gonna be controversy
around it,

but it wasn't about a date,

it wasn't about who banned it,

it wasn't about a reason why.

All that matters is,

this shoe was...

out of this world.

This particular sneaker

brought with it
a kind of heroicism

that made it desirable
at an unprecedented level.

Hello, again, everybody,

and welcome to the 1985
NBA Slam Dunk Championship.

It wasn't as if
that Air Jordan

never was seen on a stage.

He wore them
in the dunk contest

of 1985's All Star Weekend.

All right,
here's Michael Jordan

of the Chicago Bulls.
Six-six rookie.

Slam, beautiful.
Out of sight.

You know, he showed up
as this brash rookie,

and he had, like,
this special warm up suit

and he has
his Air Jordan s,

and he had some gold chains on
and the earring.

In 1985,

and to a bunch
of ten-year-old kids,

like, dunking became,

like, the thing to do

in Kansas.

It's not a dunking state,

we're a jump shot state.

I just was like,
"I wish I could do that.

I wish I could do that."

I wish I could do that.

Like the flare
on the dunk contest,

you know what I'm saying?
You just can't not see that.

You can't take it back,
you know?

You see those shoes flare,
and you're just like,

"Oh, they're wings."

Look at this.
Now he's putting down--

Tape on the foul line.

That's for
the old take-off.

That's what-- Yeah,
he wants to indicate

where he's going to take off
on this dunk.

-Fly! Slam it!
-Whoo!

Hey Marvin,
sure that's Michael Jordan?

And his foot
was honest to that tape.

That's a ten to me.

Michael wore the shoe.

I heard about it,
somebody put it in front of me,

I saw it,
I wanted to create that.

So, the AJ1's reverence

lead to this series of events
where people like me

were able to find this artifact

that encouraged us
to pursue our own destiny.

There are a number
of creation myths

around the NBA,
of the way things have happened,

that don't quite match up
with historical facts.

And we all sort of got
to chuckle about that,

and we thought
that was pretty innovative,

what they had done
with the circumstances.

Remember, red and black
on their away uniform...

then white was like
their home uniform.

First thing I remember
about the real shoe was

we made some samples

and showed those to him,
and he picked three.

Either way
he was gonna stand out.

It was the guy that
nobody was ever gonna be like.

You're gonna have
a bunch of guys

that are gonna come close,
gonna...

"Oh, oh, man,
he reminds me of MJ."

You can remind
as much as you want.

You're not MJ.

Hate it, love it, believe it,
discredit it, it still happened.

And so,
that's what I take away from it,

is being yourself on purpose
in public all the time

is the most important thing
you can do as a human being,

and Michael did it
on the grandest stage.

I don't believe
what I just saw!

I saw a man fly!

Hip hop was the first
co-signer of,

"This sneaker
is what you wanna wear."

Hip hop being graffiti...

break dancing,
and MCs rapping over beats.

People were doing it,
and they expressed themselves.

The whole spirit
of what those sneakers meant

really spoke
to this rebelliousness

that was like, "Damn."

That really just changed
the entire course.

You know,
in hip hop, we talk about

what's going on in our lives,

and we're telling stories
of our perspective.

We have an outlet where
we can express our passion.

I think that was
an important thing

about the Jordan,

that it had a story
right from the beginning.

And that's connected to hip hop.
So, it's all about stories.

I got a little story
to tell you.

And it's very much
like they've been in step

with each other in that respect.

I'm telling you, every pair
of Jordans comes with a story,

A million stories, even.

Everybody that has them

wanted them
for some real reason.

I remember sitting in our house,
and my brother brought home

NWA's record,
Straight Outta Compton.

♪ Straight Outta Compton ♪

♪ Crazy motherfucker
named Ice Cube ♪

♪ From the gang called
Niggaz With Attitudes ♪

And we were listening
to it on a record player.

And my mother just lost it.

She was like,
"What the fuck is this?

Turn that shit off.
Are you out of your mind?"

♪ Goin' off on the
Motherfucker like that ♪

And we just thought it was

the greatest thing
we ever heard.

I saw Eazy-E
wearing Jordans,

and you know, I'm like,
"Dang, that's dope!"

Like, look at how cool
this guy looks.

♪ ...for the one they call Eazy
But here's a flash... ♪

But, like, some
of the first albums I had

growing up were N.W.A.,
The Chronic, Doggystyle.

And seeing a lot
of things, like,

from the Public Enemy videos,
and still, the stuff

that I wouldn't even imagine
people doing on videos today.

♪ I'm countin' down
To the day, deservin' ♪

♪ Fittin' for a king ♪

♪ I'm waiting for the time
When I can get to Arizona ♪

♪ 'Cause my money's spent... ♪

Politically,
it was very much awake.

You know, you were faced
with the circumstances,

and it come
from the presidential switch,

but the strength
of the music and the culture

gave us some hope,
something to look forward to.

And then, fight those situations
that try to keep you back.

Growing up in Compton
in that era,

and listening
to what they were reporting,

because they were talking about
and hitting points

that we weren't seeing

in the mainstream media.

And all those things
that were swirling at that time,

it helped me write
"Fight the Power".

♪ Fight the power ♪

♪ Fight the power ♪

And "Fight the Power"
doesn't become an anthem

without Spike Lee.

Spike Lee's
Mars Blackmon character

for She's Gotta Have It
was the first b-boy

that got, you know, cinema play.

What about Nola Darling?
What do you wanna know?

I thought she was a freak.

Mars is a b-boy,
loved ball,

and so it's just natural...

for Mars to wear Jordans.

Mars loves his Jordans so much.

When he's making love with Nola,
he still has his Jordans on.

Spike had that hat
flipped up with the AJ1s,

and it was just, like,
this iconic look.

I helped bring it
into the mainstream.

Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,
In the House,

LL, we did everything
we could to bring it in

because I believed in it.

And that really took hip hop

and the style of music
to a whole 'nother level.

In terms
of revolutionary dress, or...

saying what you feel
politically...

I'm not guessing.

Bebop, doo-wop,
hip hop, laptop, okay.

Before social media,
you saw these outfits

and these footwear moments
during music videos,

whether it was Jay-Z,

Nas, or Wu-Tang,

these guys all worshipped
the Jordan brand.

It's a lifestyle,
it's a culture,

it's powerful.

♪ And I'm cool like that ♪

♪ I'm cool like that
I'm cool like that ♪

♪ I'm cool like that
I'm cool like that ♪

♪ I'm cool like that ♪

I think that's when
Jordans really took a turn

and, like, really became
this different thing

where graffiti artists
or artists in general

started to implement that.

To have the opportunity
to wear something that said,

"I'm cool, I have style,
I care about fashion,

and my game
is better than yours"...

This was something that
that shoe said

without you having
to say it out loud.

You started seeing
all the cross-pollination,

and basketball players wanted
to be rappers and do rap videos

and, you know,
every entertainer and rapper

now wanted to be
a basketball player,

or get involved in sports.

And, you know,
the shoes were the catalyst

for creating this culture.

Look at what it did
for basketball!

That all happened
because of Air Jordan.

The league has been
both a leader,

but also a beneficiary
of those changes in culture.

And made it the premiere sport

of the United States of America
overnight.

Michael, is this the shoe--

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

That's okay,
the colors stand for it.

But is this the shoe
that the NBA

-wouldn't let you wear?
-Yeah.

The shoe...

was a foundational part

in the way our society
sort of changed

and how people felt.

Like, I wanna embrace
other things.

This one shoe changed

fashion and culture.

And I think it changed

the way being a young urban kid
was something that was desirable

for people who weren't
young urban kids.

I think I'm
the living embodiment,

from the suburbs,
when in fourth grade,

I knew... Like, that coming
basketball season

I got Air Jordan 1s.

With the AJ1,
it's a shoe that you can wear,

obviously, on a court,
and off the floor.

And it can go play
on both sides of the field.

And as fashion
has evolved, and...

people paid
more attention to it,

and now people see
the greatness of the shoe,

and why it was so important,
especially back in the day.

I think when you're
looking good and feeling good,

then everything else is good,
you know?

[Sal, everyone was like,

"Shit, I wanna look like that."

I wanna dress
like those dudes.

that's true, artists
like Run-DMC to Eazy-E,

you'd have to have
the flyest hat and jacket,

and it goes down
to the feet.

It became kind of
the badge of honor,

that if you wore that,
you had the stature

that you wanted,

and you had a style swagger

that the guys around you
didn't have.

Fashion is fascinating
because if you follow it,

it tells a bigger
anthropological story.

I think people assume
it's a commodity.

But no, the hood
just made it, you know,

a part of the culture.
It made it popular.

Like, people looked
at the hood to see what to do

and what to wear
and what to say

-and how to dress.
-And it changed the perspective

on how you could wear clothes.

You know, back in the day,

the way that your apparel
would lay on the footwear,

like, didn't really lend itself
to amplifying

or highlighting the footwear
that you were wearing

at the time.

And as things started
to taper down,

and pants got tighter,

because people wanted
to show off the footwear...

The shoes really changed

the way I wanted to wear clothes
and my appearance, you know,

It kinda just started from
the ground up with the shoes.

But there was never,

besides that kind of
anti-fashion Converse sneaker,

there was never really
another sneaker

that truly became a significant
part of the fashion world,

and this became...

pure fashion.

What we choose to wear

says a lot about how we want
to be perceived in society.

So, by wearing a certain pair
of sneakers,

or a certain colorway,

it's a sort of
non-verbal communication

to other people about how
we want them to perceive us.

You can wear the Jordan 1
with a pair of denim,

you can wear 'em with shorts,
you can wear 'em with sweats,

you can wear 'em
on the basketball court,

you can get the all-black pair
and wear 'em out at night,

with the all-white pair
and wear 'em to the beach.

You can wear the red
or the royals,

and that's your flex
for the outfit.

It's just one of those shoes
you can do anything in.

That's the silhouette for a lot
of shoes that are out right now.

That's the beginning...

of the beginning.

It's just
this incredible moment

in sneaker culture.

Sneakers hadn't come out
in that kind of serial way,

and so, I think it also helped
to till the ground

for this idea of collecting.

You didn't chase
anybody else's sneakers,

but then these AJs come.

Now you gotta have every pair.

♪ One, ain’t no missing
On my mission ♪

♪ Oh, my, did my shit
With no permission ♪

♪ No, I hate to wait
Uh, uh, take your place ♪

♪ Uh, uh, make a break ♪

♪ Uh, uh, made a play ♪

♪ Woo, put ’em high ♪

♪ I can fly and feel the sky ♪

♪ Ain’t no stopping
Feel the drive ♪

♪ In my way
You feel the fight ♪

♪ From the side
Yo, they said we was a vibe ♪

♪ No, we tell ’em
At the side, no ♪

♪ Let me see you put
Your fingers high ♪

♪ One time ’cause we made it ♪

♪ One time for the greatest ♪

♪ One time for the haters ♪

♪ Gon’ put your fingers high ♪

♪ One time ♪

-Am I making myself clear?
-Uh-uh.

The new Air Jordans
from Nike are here.

If you wanna look at
what would be called

the sneaker culture
and say what was the thing

that changed everything,

it's when Spike Lee made
the shoe a character.

Mars Blackmon chillin',
chillin', chillin'

with Air Jordan,
Air Jordan, Air Jordan,

who's been serving them
hard jams, jams, jams all day.

Spike's the reason
I'm doing what I'm doing.

Spike was the first black dude
that was like,

"Oh, you can tell black stories,
but they can speak to everybody,

and if it's real and honest,
people will sort of get it,"

because Spike represented
the same spirit

that the Jordan 1 did.

Proprietary, rebellious,

could not be held back,
you know what I'm saying? The--

You knew he was gonna try
to be the best.

"Money,
is it the shoes?"

Sorry. That's it.

"It's gotta be the shoe."

"It's gotta be the shoes."

Like, yeah, motherfucker,
it is the shoes!

Money's gotta be the shoes!

Shoes! Shoes! Shoes! Shoes!

-You sure it's not the shoes?
-I'm sure, Mars.

The commercials in
and of themselves

were events. It was like
someone droppin' a mixtape,

or an album or a movie.

Finding out these cool ways
to, like...

inject some social commentary,

none of that existed before.

And there was a sense that...

what happened off the court

affected what happened
on the court.

It was transcending basketball.

It was one of the very
first basketball shoes

that somehow jumped out
of basketball.

And it got blended
with modern youth culture,

but also, it did jump
into skateboarding.

♪ R ♪

♪ E ♪

♪ S ♪

♪ I-S-T, yeah! ♪

♪ R ♪

♪ E ♪

We started
when we were kids

and we cared
only about skateboarders,

and that's it.
Everything else was terrible.

The industry
was pretty desolate,

and Vans stopped sponsoring
all the skateboarders.

So, all the kids
that were sponsored by Vans

went looking for shoes.

When it came
to make Animal Chin,

we kind of altered them
in a way.

Like, I would always wear
mismatched pairs.

A couple of friends
would always paint 'em.

We wanted to modify this thing

and say it wasn't
a basketball thing,

it's a skateboard thing.

I remember tying in

the Jordan 1
on the skateboarders,

and a Jordan 1
on a hip-hop kid.

So here is this other...

up-and-becoming entity

that spawns corporate America
to say, "Hey,

we gonna do this thing our way."

And their shoe of choice
became...

the Jordan 1.

I've met all the kids
that grew up on us

wearing them,
that that's their world.

♪ R ♪

♪ E ♪

♪ S ♪

♪ I-S-T, yeah! ♪

♪ R ♪

We wanted to be Jordan...

in skateboarding.

We truly did.

It was sports tied in
with skate,

tied in with high fashion,
and...

Just put it in a blender,

and that's kinda how
you created, you know,

what you see today.

Now it's just culture.

It's basketball
and music, and...

you know, movies and television.

It culminated
with both, you know, my--

the way that I play the game
of basketball

and this whole...

style thing of what was being
established with the shoe.

And almost invariably,
you could just see this

sort of tidal wave
of acceptance

sort of build, and just boom,

and then everybody wants
the shoe.

♪ Get, get, get loud for me ♪

It's hip-hop,
it's gospel.

-It's surf culture.
-It's rock and roll.

on GQ,
it's on Esquire.

It's high fashion...

This deal
reinvigorates people.

They're works of art.

Gets people's hearts throbbin'.

♪ Heart of a lion ♪

♪ Fire inside me
Blaze like a siren ♪

♪ Why would you try it? ♪

♪ Wake up the beast... ♪

You can see
a skater in Jordans.

It's in Spanish,
in Japanese, it...

-A nerdy kid in Jordans.
-So it crosses races.

It's all one,
it's all unity.

It was the role model
for your kids.

It's... It's everything.

I mean,
it's fucking powerful, man.

None of that happens
without this guy.

None of that happens
without this.

And this doesn't happen...

if Michael can't play.

After one season,
Michael Jordan skyrocketed

to the most elite of the NBA.

But in his third game
this season,

Air Jordan suffered the first
injury of his career.

When he got hurt,
when he broke his foot...

you know what,
might as well sit the year out.

You know.
You're not going anywhere.

We can't win a championship.
Let's just sit it out.

They held their breathe at Nike.

They really did,
that first year.

"What did we do?
This guy's hurt."

And they're worried
that maybe this investment's

gonna go into the toilet.

What if this guy
has a chronic foot problem?

Boy, it's a different ball game.

Jordans were certainly popular,

but I think
they were a little bit worried

that maybe the business
was not going to be the same

-now that he wasn't playing.
-Well, I remember

it wasn't a very happy day.

As soon as that happened,
they sat on shelves.

You know what I mean?
They sat on shelves.

When you have to overcome
something like that,

there is always
a shred of doubt.

"Is it gonna be okay?

Is it gonna hold up?"

And everything...

that comes in your path...

your triumphs...

or your lows, when you're--
Especially when you're young,

those-- those-- those--

Those young ages,
that's when you're impacted.

He just couldn't be amazing.

And everything
just couldn't be great.

Not in America.

Something has to be wrong.

In New York, people are
killing each other over shoes.

You know, you got a kid
who would kill a little kid

for a shoe that's two sizes
too small for him,

'cause he needs
these shoes.

Kids are literally...

snatching the shoes
off of other kids' feet.

It literally was like,

"I might fucking have to end
someone's life...

so I can get those,
for what that status,

what that power
is going to give me."

That's how crazy it got!

You know,
if you look at that

Sports Illustrated cover
with the Air Jordan V on it,

that was kind of
a turning point.

Once something hit a critical
stage of consumption

to disenfranchise
neighborhoods,

and the price market
was sky-high

and it created issues for

young people
who wanted these things,

but families
that couldn't afford it,

that's when it got into
the political ball park.

We're playing basketball,

stayed around at the park
a little too long,

and I don't remember
who got hit first.

It was me or him,
but one of us got rocked.

And then, I just remember
being on the ground

and these folks tugging up
my feet.

I feared for, you know,
my life, basically.

...off of like...

some pieces of molded...

leather and plastic, and...

assembled by...

young people in Asia.

That's...

That's wild.

Violence over
a pair of sneakers.

These Air Jordans attract
big crowds,

and today, things took
a dangerous turn.

A local teenager
killed

over a pair of shoes and...

Right now,
it's a public safety issue

with children wearing
those sneakers.

Here's what the problem
was about those stories,

is that if you were around
and you understood,

if you were from the hood,
you were like, "Well,

it ain't Jordans, you get robbed
and killed for anything now."

You get robbed and killed
for a sheepskin coat.

You might've got
your Jordans taken

while they were taking
the sheepskin coat.

Before, when people were getting

shot and stabbed
and killed for shell toes,

no conversations.

Shot and stabbed,
and killed for Airforce 1s,

no conversations.

Anything that they were
getting shot and killed for

at that precise moment,
no conversations.

He happens to be Michael Jordan,

number one in the universe,

the unicorn.

Oh, now you're getting killed
for Jordans.

No, stupid!

You're getting killed
for sneakers!

That happened all the time.

So, to me,
the stories were bullshit.

Remove shoes or sneakers
away from it, it's just

a thing that means something
to someone.

It may sound silly to someone,
but sometimes, all you had

was these shoes, and you
give them to someone,

and that means a lot.

If a kid is shot
for having Jordan shoes,

I got a feeling there's
something more going on

than the shoes.

There's always
the other end of the coin,

where, um...

as much confidence

as a new pair of shoes
has given me,

there's a kid
who can't have them.

There's someone that
actually feels hurt by it,

and I've been on both ends
of that.

We're all striving
for the same shit, you know.

We all want to better
our station in life.

We all want
to give our children

-more than what we had.
-And so even

when you're able to make
an impact,

there's generations that
follow that need updating,

they need maintenance
to understand

the severity of the situation
that they're in.

Revolution started
from the bottom,

you know, like,
throughout history,

especially American history.

We saw this emergence
of confidence,

not only from sports,
but from culture.

You had the growth of hip-hop,

the growth of,
you know, street art,

the growth of this
awareness itself

that was happenin' in the
collective conscious of youth,

and then you have Michael
that encapsulated it all.

'Cause he looked like
the unlikely candidate

to start a revolution,

which is always the likely
candidate to start a revolution.

Everybody doesn't have
to be out front,

yelling, screaming, fist up...

to be down.

A lot of people...

choose a different route.

A collective web of contributors

from various aspects

rose like a phoenix
out of the ashes.

That gave a voice
to the voiceless.

And in giving a voice
to the voiceless,

then, you know,
there's strength in numbers,

and then people was like,
"Well, oh, shit,

if they're saying it,
I can say it."

You know, "If they're
not afraid to come out

and talk about this thing,

you know, why should I be?"

The voices get louder.
The marches get bigger.

You know, and, uh...

And the movement takes place,
and then there's a shift.

I wanna make my own mark,
I wanna do my own thing.

Not just for the fact
of being anti-establishment,

or counter-culture.

That's one thing,
but it's really about

thinking differently
and being able to,

you know, follow your own path,
create your own spirit.

I think some things
that have happened

in the past couple of years,
have sort of shown us ourselves,

whether we like
the refection or not.

And it's sort of made people

go deep within
to ask themselves,

"What kind of world
do I wanna be a part of?

What kind of world
do I wanna show my children?"

There has to be a level
of unification

amongst people.
Athletes alike,

artists alike,
entertainers alike,

politicians alike.
There has to be some type of...

stance.

Yes, it was basketball,

but it also was a reality

of unlocking something
that was deep inside.

And that was kind of
the spirit of the 1.

He said, "Don't you believe?

Don't you believe in me?"
Yeah.

"You know what? Yeah.

I believe in you.
Go for it."

When Michael faces
the Boston Celtics,

you didn't think all those
people were looking at his feet

at that time?

Almost the universe
painting this moment in time.

With these magical shoes on,

we can do things.

And when he actually has that
move at the Boston Garden,

when he shuffles,
people are looking at his feet.

All eyes on Jordan.

Sixty-three points, and you're
looking at an all-time record.

Oh, boy. Michael Jordan...

The fact that
Michael Jordan is just badass

at that right time,
the planets lined up. Boom.

Mission control,
ready for launch.

You can hear his engine
revving now...

Air Jordan,
ready to take off.

Look at the air,
look at the hang time,

look at the flying motion.

That shit was just powerful.

Not just for sport...

but just, like, in life.

The same way it's hard
to discriminate on someone

when you're listening
to the same music,

it's even harder
to discriminate on someone

when you're wearing
the same sneakers.

It's an instant connection.

You know,
yes, we're very different.

Yes, you know,
we speak different languages,

and we see the world
differently, but the one thing

that unified us,
and brought us together, was...

was the AJ 1.

The guy's been retired
for, what, 15 years?

Something like that? Twenty?
And they're still selling

these shoes like it was 1985,
like he was still playing.

It's gotten to the point now
where he just so happened

to have played basketball

and is the greatest player
that ever lived.

But he's a global icon...

because of the damn shoes.

I think we personally
immortalize it.

To see where it's at right now,
and to see...

that this younger generation

understands that
and is educated about that,

-that means a lot.
-Something that hits that big

or that good at one time
lives forever.

I think it's the same thing
that, uh, allows you

to still call Elvis "The King".

It's undeniable greatness,

I think, that kinda
transcends time.

Thirty years later,
we actually changed the rule

that said you can in fact do

what Michael wanted to do
in 1984.

You know, it changed the world.
It changed the world.

For me, what it
represents was the beginning

of a possibility.

You know,
a possibility to say,

"You could be an athlete,

you could be a rapper,
you could be an artist,

you could be whatever you want,
but at the end of the day,

to be your own man
is the most important piece."

You know,
we can't determine

when you're born.

We can't determine...

the world you're born into.

So all that shit came together
at the same time.

You're not buying
the stitches,

or the leather,
or the sole,

you're actually buying
what it symbolizes.

And I think that's the magic,

and I think that's what's
so incredibly special about it.

And I don't think we will see
that again in our lifetime.

For me, it represents who I am
and the way I live my life,

the kind of things
that I'm into, like, uh...

It's like the flag on my hat.

It represented my youth,

it's who I was,
who I wanted to be, like...

And I want to be the best.

Or at least trying to walk
amongst the best in what I do.

No boundaries, no limits,

a sense that you can go out
and accomplish things

beyond what you thought
was possible.

It's amazing that it can all
be embodied in a shoe.

Before, black people...

in this country...

We were constantly told that

we were less than,
or we didn't matter.

And I think there's a direct
correlation between that

and a little black boy

wanting a coveted pair
of sneakers.

Because when he puts them on,

for a second, he forgets that...

the world doesn't value
his life.

For a second, he feels...

more than.

He feels significant.

He feels free.

People really thought,
"Wow, I can do anything."

They were wide open to...

pursue these crazy dreams.

When you think about this,
sitting with a child who...

will talk about going
through chemotherapy

and the only way
he gets through it,

is either, you know,
reading Michael's books,

or wearing his jersey,

to act like he's got
the strength.

And we got a letter
from the Wish family that

this little boy had passed away,

but they buried him
in Michael's jersey

and his shoes.

That says how beyond...
This is not just a shoe.

This is something that
is a symbol for a child,

who is fighting for his life,
that gave him the courage

every day to keep fighting.

That's incredible.

The inspiration, and the hope,

and the passion,
and the drive

that can be attributed
to a shoe.

A shoe.

You know, it's fucking crazy.

To have, like,
that little bit of

hope on your feet...

There's just a good vibe
coming off of them,

and I-- and I hope anybody
that wears them

are wearing them to

not fill a hole,
but to just sort of like

accentuate the things about
them that they, you know...

That maybe they love.

I think that kind of stuff
is possible, you know.

It's hope. It's just hope.

For me, when I look at this
and what it means,

it means that people have
the ability to dream.

And if a spirit of that 1
can do that...

to one kid, one kid that.
believes that they can change

the universe...

then I believe
those are the things

that make life worth living.

I don't know if I'm answering
your question or whatnot,

I'm just telling you how I feel,

and what the shoe means to me,
and how it affects me.

Some crazy shit to say
about a fucking shoe.

♪ We did the impossible ♪

♪ Now we're unstoppable ♪

♪ This the night
Every time, never quit ♪

♪ Dig deep
Always fight, always win ♪

♪ Can't stop
Never sleep, cause you know ♪

♪ We did the impossible
Now we're unstoppable ♪

♪ This the night
Every time, never quit ♪

And that was it.

I wanted to cry,
but I don't...

Well, it's tough, yeah.

♪ We did the impossible ♪

♪ Now we're unstoppable ♪

When I was playing Mars,

I mean, that's the first
I ever acted.

So a lot of times,
I couldn't remember

the next lines. Do you know?
Do you know? Do you know?

Do you know?"

That's why Mars repeated stuff!

They say, "Rob,"
you know,

"I don't wanna ban them.
My son thinks they're great.

Just send me a pair."

I once threatened Michael
with going home to put them on.

And he said,
"No, no, no, please, please,"

I said, "Okay, fine."

I can't ollie.
But I can stick out my tongue

and go "uhl"...

Is that a saying?

And that's
Michael Jordan's fault.

Olivia doesn't mind them.

♪ We did the impossible ♪

♪ Now we're unstoppable ♪

David Stern.

AB mark.

♪ This the night
Every time, never quit ♪

♪ Dig deep
Always fight, always win ♪

♪ Can't stop
Never sleep, cause you know ♪

♪ We did the impossible
Now we're unstoppable ♪

♪ This the night
Every time, never quit ♪

♪ Dig deep
Always fight, always win ♪

♪ Can't stop
Never sleep, cause you know ♪

♪ We did the impossible
Now we're unstoppable ♪

♪ We're unstoppable ♪

♪ We're unstoppable ♪

♪ This the night
Every time, never quit ♪

♪ Dig deep
Always fight, always win ♪

♪ We did the impossible
Now we're unstoppable ♪

♪ This the night
Every time, never quit ♪

♪ Dig deep
Always fight, always win ♪

♪ Can't stop
Never sleep, cause you know ♪

♪ We did the impossible
Now we're unstoppable ♪

♪ This the night
Every time, never quit ♪

♪ We did the impossible
Now we're unstoppable ♪