What’s Your Air Jordan Story? Oh S***!

Driven From Within by Michael Jordan.

I’ve made some. I’ve missed some. That’s not to say I wasn’t nervous. That’s always going to be there. But fear? Never. There was never any fear for me, no fear of failure. If I miss a shot, so what?
I have never been afraid to assert myself on or off the court. A lot of kids today need reinforcement. They need a pat on the back. But back in those days, you couldn’t find me ranked anywhere because no one knew I existed. Some kids live down to expectations. Athletes, even professional ones, do the same thing.
— Michael Jordan.

Driven From Within by Michael Jordan is a chronological biopic about the movement known as Air Jordan. It’s been over thirty years since the first Michael Jordan shoe was released, the Air Jordan I. What exactly makes children and grown men alike, stand in line for hours in the morning and spend their rent money on basketball shoes? It’s the symbol. The Jumpman. When you walk around the city, the suburbs, most of the feet that wear the Brand Jordan sneakers belong to kids who have never seen Jordan play live. In places like New York and Seattle, the guy was Public Enemy Number One. So why wear the shoes? Driven From Within brings us back before there were Michael Jordan sneakers, to an era when Converse ruled the day. Converse had monopolized the NBA, with Magic Johnson and Larry Bird rocking these bad boys. The Bad Boy Pistons and Isiah Thomas wore them too, as did Dr. J and every player in the Association back then. Michael Jordan himself wore Converse at North Carolina, and infamously preferred Adidas to an unfamiliar company called Nike. Adidas wasn’t too interested in Jordan, while Converse told His Airness to jump to the back of the line.
A story of Michael Jordan meeting with Phil Knight and Tinker Hatfield is one for the ages, as Knight starts sweating fearing that his best talent will leave for a new start-up shoe company. Peter Moore designed the first two Air Jordans, intentionally stalling on the Air Jordan III design. Rob Strasser was essentially the founder of the Air Jordan line, the man who recruited Michael away from Converse and Adidas. Strasser had a power struggle inside Nike, and together with Peter Moore had planned to secretly lure Michael away from Nike. The new company would be based on Michael alone, with more income generated and complete creative control for Michael. It appeared like a done deal, sorry Nike you’ve been great but… Phil Knight and Tinker Hatfield sit with Michael and his mom and his late father. Michael was four hours late to the meeting, because he was playing golf with Strasser and Moore. The bad expression on Michael’s face said it all… He didn’t want to be there. He was leaving. Bye. Nike’s new designer, Tinker Hatfield, was left in the dust by Moore. Hatfield had discovered renderings left by Moore, but one day Moore told Hatfield to “go make Michael’s next shoe”, before leaving the office for good. Figuring the new designer couldn’t come up with anything good, Moore and Strasser had thought they lured Michael Jordan away. But then, Tinker Hatfield talks about the design process, the colors, the leather… And Michael’s first very own logo. The frown on Michael’s face goes upside down, when Hatfield officially busts out the Air Jordan III from a secret box.
That’s all she wrote after that.
Illustration from Driven From Within.

Is competitiveness born or bred? The book talks about Michael Jordan’s late father tearing off the entire roof of their house, and neighbors thinking the old man was nuts. If you want to know why Michael Jordan intimidated his teammates… Because they couldn’t play on a sprained ankle, just remember Michael’s father tore the family’s roof off by himself. No carpenter necessary. You could only rely on yourself, was the lesson. Michael’s brothers were good handy men, while Michael talks about hating that kind of work. Things that motivate a teenage boy… In Wilmington, North Carolina were girls and how one fit in with the cool kids. Michael never had girls. And he didn’t really fit in with the cool kids. Jordan also dealt with an awkward growth spurt, though later benefiting him, had stunted his high school development. Jordan also talks about fearing his coach at UNC, Dean Smith. Though jovial and calm during games, Smith laid into his players at closed practices. Smith never gave Jordan free reign in college, using Michael in a heavily system oriented game. When you spend time chasing, never quite getting what you want, the fabric of competition gets woven into you, says Jordan.
Driven From Within talks about the 2000s Detroit Pistons that went to five straight Eastern Conference Finals, back to back NBA Finals, winning one. Those players were cast-offs from other teams, lacked singular star power. They won on hardcore scrap defense. When the Pistons traded away point guard Chauncey Billups for flashier Allen Iverson, the chemistry was gone. Jordan singles out Ben Wallace, the muscular and scary looking center who banged low with players much bigger. Ben Wallace never scored. But the man was a champion for doing the job, says Jordan. When Jordan couldn’t advance over the Bad Boy Pistons, Jordan talks about charging into the lane that much harder. It basically turned into football, as the Pistons played dirty and fouled in ways that would cause suspensions today. Charles Barkley talks about AAU basketball, and how it hurts players. When you round up the best teenagers, put them all together, and go beat up everyone else it becomes too easy. When you’re in the NBA, the Miami Heat and Warriors are great ratings. But when kids are learning the game, AAU stunts their competitive genes. Jordan talks about the United Center being half-empty, years before the three-peats. When the Bulls were always down, Jordan decided enough was enough. Veterans on the Bulls didn’t like Jordan as a rookie because he played too hard in practice.

So everybody has their Air Jordan story...
Okay, I’ll go tell you mine. When I was in the 7th grade, I remember finding my cousin’s original Air Jordan VIII. The standard black/white/red. This was probably 10 years after the damn thing was released, all dusty and toe box bent and ashy dust all over the black nubuck. So I put them on, man they are comfy. That 90’s Fresh Prince style sockliner, air baggies underneath, two straps. So that day I just wore them to school, not even knowing they were Jordans because I was rushing to school and wasn’t even sure if the “23” was actually anything to do with Jordan. There’s no Jumpman or Nike logo on the sneaker except the tongues/bottom. Next thing I know, this is an inner-city middle school, all the cool kids from the football and basketball teams are going nuts. I found it so amazing, curious how these old dusty, crusty shoes suddenly made me the man on campus that day. That’s still the craziest thing I’ve experienced, and I’ve seen and done some crazy things. I don’t think there’s any sort of high you could do to copy that feeling. So I wore them everyday for two weeks, until the soles literally ripped off. That’s how I know there were little air baggies underneath. The whole soles off both shoes ripped off, but I still wore them anyway to school. Played basketball in them sliding and gliding all over the place, but kids still blown away at these shoes. I kept the soles for decoration. Ahh man, those years being a diehard back in 2005–2006–2007–2008, and that feeling when some retros sold out before you made it into the store… Can’t let defeat knock you down.
It’s gotta be the shoes!

When you see Michael Jordan, you see a man who is now called the best ever. But you only see the exterior. You see the force, the bald head, the long, lanky body.
But what drove that machine is far bigger than what it produced on the outside. The difference is that it resides inside him. IT IS RELENTLESS.
— Driven From Within.

