Back in 1984, the NBA sent Michael Jordan and Nike a letter of notice about the colorway of his sneakers. The letter from then-NBA executive vice president Russ Granik read: “In accordance with our conversations, this will confirm and verify that the National Basketball Association’s rules and procedures prohibited the wearing of certain red and black NIKE basketball shoes by Chicago Bulls player Michael Jordan on or around October 18, 1984.”
The Air Jordan “Banned” story has long been documented. The black and red colorway of the Air Jordan 1 Nike was set to release violated the NBA’s league uniform policy and was worth a $5,000 fine each time the Bulls star wore them on the court.