Early in 1984,
Nike was a struggling shoe company. The running shoe phenomenon that has fueled their sales in previous years was slowly dying and they needed a way to revitalize and reinvent themselves in order to appeal to another segment of the market. At the same time, rookie player
Michael Jordan was already endorsing several products, but Nike hoped that his appeal would generate sales.
Jordan, though, had other ideas. He had always preferred Adidas or the Converse shoes endorsed by North Carolina Coach, Dean Smith, and hoped to sign on with either company. Converse, with Larry Bird and Magic Johnson on board as spokesmen, were not interested in offering a better deal than Nike, and Adidas wasn't interested at all at the time; perhaps due to Kathe Dassler's death the same year. While
Michael Jordan, himself, did not initially see the significance of Nike's offer, his agent, David Falk, saw a golden opportunity in Nike's offer to create a new line of shoes called "
Air Jordans", and urged him to give Nike a chance.