Magic Johnson got here into the NBA in 1979 actual sizzling after beating Larry Fowl within the nationwide championship, so he bought loads of sneaker offers thrown at him – together with one from Nike.
Together with Nike, Adidas and Converse provided Magic a sponsorship deal.
The Lakers legend determined to signal with Converse, which financially talking was positively not the most suitable choice however he didn’t have a crystal ball on the time.
“Nike was only a yr or two outdated,” Johnson stated on a January episode of All The Smoke. “And so, Converse provided me essentially the most cash. So, you recognize, if you develop up broke, you are taking the cash. [Nike co-founder] Phil Knight got here in and stated, ‘Hey, I can’t supply you a similar sort of cash, however I can give you inventory.’
“I didn’t know nothing about it. My household didn’t come from cash. See, that’s one factor that damage us generally. While you don’t come from cash, I didn’t even know what shares was at the moment. So I handed on the shares. Are you able to think about? Forty-five years. 5 billion {dollars} that inventory would’ve been price at present.”
It’s onerous to really feel too sorry for Magic, since he’s nonetheless estimated to be price round $620 million proper now – a whole lot of that due to Magic Johnson Enterprises.
The now-63-year-old owns eating places and leisure venues besides, the Nike stuff nonetheless haunts him.
Again in 2017 on The Ellen Present, he stated, “Boy, did I make a mistake… I’m nonetheless kicking myself. Each time I’m in a Nike Retailer, I get mad. I may have been being profitable off of everyone shopping for Nikes proper now.”
As most NBA followers know, Nike and Michael Jordan made a deal in 1984 that included his personal line of footwear known as Air Jordan.
It was a $2.5 million deal for 5 years, plus and a further 5 % royalties on the revenue from the sale of his signature line.
Since then, it’s estimated that Jordan has revamped $1.4 billion from his Nike deal and he made $256 million from Nike in 2022 alone. Wild.
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