We all know how Michael Jordan put Nike on the map, making it the world’s top shoe maker. But not all of us know that the only reason why he chose to sign with Nike was because Adidas did not think he was worth it.

In an interview 14 years ago, Jordan himself admitted that.

“You know what, the thing is, I never wore Nike shoes until I signed the Nike contract. All throughout college, we wore Converse, and up to that point, my favorite shoe was Adidas shoes. At that time, when everybody was trying to recruit me about what shoes to wear, I was pro-Adidas the whole time. And once I went through the presentation with Nike, they really made a great effort of having my input on the shoe, any shoes that I wanted to wear,” MJ said.

“But then I was very loyal. I went back to Adidas and said look; this is the Nike contract; if you come anywhere close, I’ll sign with you guys. Anywhere close to what they were putting on the table. But at that time, Adidas was a European brand that really didn’t make a strong push for the United States, and they didn’t feel that it was worth it, which in hindsight, was perfect for me because it made my decision much easier, and I ended up with Nike. From that point on, the relationship just started to blossom,” Jordan added.

Blossom is such an understatement for the way Nike and the overall brand behind Jordan evolved over the years.

The Michael Jordan business is worth billions of dollars
Looking back, the details of Michael Jordan’s first deal with Nike looked like peanuts. The Oregon-based shoe company paid MJ a flat fee of $500,000 per year for five years. Nike then projected the Air Jordan 1 to generate $3 million over four years.

Instead, the first installment of the Air Jordan made more than $130 million during its first year in the market. Last February, the Neon Money Club reported that Nike made $19 billion from MJ’s Jordan Brand and that the Jumpman brand made an estimated $3 million in sales in just five hours.

Meanwhile, Jordan makes ‘only’ 5% from his current deal with the Jordan Brand. However, sales have gone through the roof, and Mike reportedly has made $1.3 billion from his contracts with Nike. That’s more than any athlete has earned on a shoe contract. According to the latest Forbes list, Jordan is worth $2 billion.

Did Adidas think MJ was ‘too short?’

In a 2015 article from the Wall Street Journal, a former Adidas employee claimed that the German-based athletic apparel and footwear company made a pass on Jordan because he was ‘too short.’ According to that claim, Adidas’ biggest mistake was that it preferred much taller players and preferred to sponsor centers.

At that time, Los Angeles Lakers captain Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was Adidas’ most prominent shoe endorser, both literally and figuratively. Abdul-Jabbar was one of the most dominant big men ever to play the game. At 7-2, he was undoubtedly a much taller player than MJ, but as Jordan would prove, height isn’t might in selling shoes.

Adidas would end up changing its criteria for its NBA shoe endorsers. In the 90s, the likes of Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady carried the Adidas banner. Meanwhile, shorter players like Derrick Rose and James Harden are among the brand’s top endorsers. But while Adidas has adapted to compete in the market, Nike has left the competition too far behind since landing that industry-changing deal in 1984.