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The thought occurred to me on my drive to work.. would you still rock J's the same? Do you think it would be as fashionable as it is now? Any thoughts on this..
What IF Jordan stuck with that baseball phase of his career??
- Thread in 'Jordan Brand' Thread starter Started by lyricist343,
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His first retirement would've been longer but he'd have came back to the NBA all the same and the line would've kept going. Michael's work ethic is legendary but he wasn't good enough at baseball to just jump to the majors like that. His athleticism might've been at a professional level baseball-wise but the buck stopped there. He hadn't played since he was a kid and even the other minor leaguers had it all over him.
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Then he would have special Nike trainers and a slogan like "Jordan Knows"
lol only kidding!!
lol only kidding!!
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I would probably wear J's the same since my fav J's were before the first retirement anyways.
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[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Your right my friend but IF... he decided to just stick with the Sox and play Baseball from then on out...how or would your opinion of Jordan change shoe wise?
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But do you think he would still be on top of the shoe game as he is with the shoes we know today? Imagine only being able to rock Jordans I-X
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I think it's possible that the line would've still been dominant, though probably not #1. Jordan laid out the blueprint as we know it for athletic endorsement but the line didn't truly become what it is now until the XI dropped. It's not the best overall Jordan but it arguably had the most impact and helped JB become a separate entity of sorts. As far as taste goes, I'd have probably still got the shoes. If I like it and it's comfortable, then it's OK with me.
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Exactly.
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I would bc iiis are my fav and I wear em more bc theyre comfortable and I LIKE THEM and not bc theyre js and 'cool' IM COOL lol ok rant is done
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[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I agree with you. The Jordan XI is probably one of the top J's that made his shoe line iconic. IMO if Jordan had stayed playing baseball and continued to drop some new releases back then, I just cant see him where he is today. I believe that all of his shoes were court inspired by him to better his game of basketball. But if he had switched to baseball, then had field inspired kicks dropping instead. Do you think people would still buy em or would his support eventually wear off after making the decision to remain in baseball? Hypothetically speaking, do you think the Jordan XI would still look the same or would there even be anything after the 9's?[/font]
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agreed
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i would wear jays the same...................................................................................peace23
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I don't think the line would be as big as it is today. As I feel people buy jordan's so they can connect to the "greatness" shown on the court as MJ did.You wouldn't buy a product associated with an "average" athlete . Plus it didn't hurt when his return to the NBA made worldwide headlines ! And EVERYONE wanted to see the shoes he was wearing !
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I think that there would have been more baseball style shoe and I would still wear them. If you didn't see the ESPN 30/30 Jordan rides the bus then you need to see it.
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what if penny hardaway stayed healthy? what if griffey stayed healthy? what if bo jackson stayed healthy? but if jordan stuck with baseball unfortunately i think he would have washed up quick, its a whole different game and mentality, but i give him props for doing it even though he never had to try out cuz who the heck wouldnt want jordan on your team if only to sell out on tickets. id put him on the team even if he got the hat trick every game to make millions. so was he even good enough to be on the team legitamately? probably not. shoe line would suffer cuz baseball cleats dont sell like basketball shoes
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We would have no 11's, 12's or 13's, because Tinker wouldn't have been as hands on with Michael, making the perfect "basketball" shoe.
Glad that didn't happen.
Also, I can't envision there being a "Brand Jordan" either.
Glad that didn't happen.
Also, I can't envision there being a "Brand Jordan" either.
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If you watch the ESPN 30 for 30... its apparent that his game was improving drastically in the short time that he played....I personally know a guy, Chris Snopek that played on that team with MJ and he said that his work ethic was unbelievable and believed that MJ could have made it all the way to the Bigs.. and No one is better Mentally than MJ was...I agree that it is a completely different game...However, we all know that he made the right decision and by making that decision he has taken all of our hard earned dollars and gave us some great shoes to
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"Jordan Rides The Bus" is on ESPN Classic right in the UK. Heads up for all the Pommys!
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Exactly! THIS is what made the XIs "iconic", not because everyone thought they were awesome. If you were around when the shoes first dropped, then you know that many people thought they were hideous, just as with any pair of AJs. I'd often hear comments like "w t f are those, cop shoes??" People are confusing the real reason the XIs became as big as they did. Jordan left the game so abruptly that fans were at a loss. When he came back, the hype was back in full swing except 10 fold, and drew in even more fans that didn't watch the first part of his career, but wanted to jump on the bandwagon, so anything associated with him prior to his departure was even bigger the 2nd time around. His basketball card values skyrocketed (even his common cards), his jerseys were flying off the racks, and of course, the first shoe release since his comeback was hotter than Carmen Electra's @ss. It had nothing to do with "everyone loved them". Things just went from everything MJ touches turns to gold, to turns to platinum.
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I think a better question would be "What if Jordan had never played baseball/retired for a couple of years?" followed with "What if Jerry Riensdorf (or however you spell his name) had commited to keeping the Jordan led Bulls teams together?" Would Jordan be even bigger had he won somewhere between 8 to 10 titles in a row? I dont think it is unrealistic to believe that those Bulls teams would have won 2 more championships if Jordan didnt play baseball and at leat one more if not 2 to 3 more championships if Bulls owner keeps team together with Jordan and Jackson as coach.
Now if Jordan had continued baseball career I believe Jordan brand is very different with a 50/50 focus on basketball and baseball
Now if Jordan had continued baseball career I believe Jordan brand is very different with a 50/50 focus on basketball and baseball
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[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I agree with you. The Jordan XI is probably one of the top J's that made his shoe line iconic. IMO if Jordan had stayed playing baseball and continued to drop some new releases back then, I just cant see him where he is today. I believe that all of his shoes were court inspired by him to better his game of basketball. But if he had switched to baseball, then had field inspired kicks dropping instead. Do you think people would still buy em or would his support eventually wear off after making the decision to remain in baseball? Hypothetically speaking, do you think the Jordan XI would still look the same or would there even be anything after the 9's?[/font]
I think they'd be shoes after the IXs. Penny Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, Scottie Pippen, and others wore Jordans for a spell while Michael was away and during his second comeback. The line would've continued but the XIs may or may not have been created. The sneaker world came up on top when it came to chance in this case.
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The real reason Michael retired the first time was because of the rift with Reinsdorf & Krause when they looked to bring Toni Kukoc on board. Other factors were Phil Jackson and the bad contract that Scottie Pippen signed that was basically a glorified balloon payment deal. When MJ came back, he was never the same defensively. He was still 1st Team level, but he wasn't as good as he was during the first three-peat. During that span, he used to be able to shut down guys like Tim Hardaway and Kevin Johnson. In KJ's case, some say his first step was faster than even Iverson's.
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UltraPromoman wrote:
The real reason Michael retired the first time was because of the rift with Reinsdorf & Krause when they looked to bring Toni Kukoc on board. Other factors were Phil Jackson and the bad contract that Scottie Pippen signed that was basically a glorified balloon payment deal.
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That whole "Wizards" stint probably wouldn't have happened....
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DUMB. Just plain DUMB.
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DUMB. Just plain DUMB.Originally Posted by super23freak
Whatever. MJ & Scottie had a bit of a beef with Kukoc because of Jerry Krause & Reinsdorf for being high on him. Remember when Pippen sat out of the 95 playoff game against the Knicks when Toni was to take the last shot instead of him? Also Pippen got traded to the Rockets after the beef over his last contract with the Bulls. He also had that back surgery that took some of his athleticism. Phil left the team too because he got into the politics and beefing too. All those made headlines everywhere back in the day. Check out ESPN when they rerun their Top 5 reasons you can't blame show when they talk about it. It was brought then. Here's a current Fox Sports analyst (Charley Rosen) recounting the same thing that was sort of referenced on that same ESPN show years earlier:
http://msn.foxsports.com/...t-stay-great-much-longer
