by JOE BABAR Staff Writer
Michael Jordan signed a Nike contract in 1984 to create his own shoe company called Air Jordan, with new designs released annually. Jordan is a former professional basketball player, who is debatably the greatest player to ever grace the court. After a three season career at the University of North Carolina, Jordan joined the NBA’s Chicago Bulls in 1984. Jordan got the Air Jordan nickname from his popular dunk from the free throw line, later earning him his famous logo Jumpman logo seen on any one of Jordan’s sneakers. Another famous logo of Jordan is the “winged basketball” logo. The Air Jordan 1 and the Air Jordan 2 both featured this logo. Jordan has sold 59,687,412,365 pairs of shoes and counting. His worldly success in sneakers earned him the title of one of the greatest businessmen ever. Jordan’s shoe success has earned him $206 to $310 million in the last 25 years, not to mention his numerous endorsements. “Jordans are the only pair of shoes I wear, I refuse to wear any other. The quality of them is amazing and there’s no other shoe that can compare to them,” said freshman David Angley. Jordans have the best quality of all sneakers, their details are like no other and their consistent quality is unseen in any other shoe. “Jordans are so nice. I wish I could have every pair to be honest. I love every single one,” said freshman Jeffrey Gardner. Jordans are also extremely comfortable shoes. They are an easy fit on your foot, and they are never irritating to wear. Air Jordans are also very hard to beat up. They last a long time, and many people have had shoes that lasted years and years. “I have had the same pair of ‘Jordans’ for the past 3 years and they are still not beat up,” says freshman Justin Thompson. Jordans are the favorite shoe of many people and are loved by people worldwide. Although they are a great quality shoe, comfortable, and are a long-lasting pair of sneakers to wear, there is a down side to Air Jordans-cost. An average Jordan shoe can cost anywhere between $100-$300 dollars, and some rare sneakers even cost thousands of dollars, which is what some people would call crazy just for a pair of sneakers. Although Jordans are pricey, many would say they are worth the price. They are comfortable, trendy, fashionable, and a nice everyday pair of sneakers to wear, so Jordans are well worth their price. “I understand that Jordans are expensive, but I honestly think they are worth all the money I spend on them. Without my Jordans I wouldn’t have a nice pair of sneakers to wear to school, and I would be swagless,” says an anonymous source.