The Story Behind Air Jordan 3: 30 Years Ago, This Pair Of Basketball Shoes Saved Nike.

In 1988, the emergence of Air Jordan 3 helped Nike retain the "flying man" Jordan who was about to switch to Adidas.

The 1988 slam dunk competition in Chicago was once called the most exciting event in history. The first three dunk kings Wilkins, Webb and Michael Jordan came together.

In the end, Jordan staged a free throw line dunking and won the championship, which became a classic picture in basketball history.

The Air Jordan 3 at the foot of the flying man also opened the road to fame. These shoes were accompanied by Jordan's many awards including the all star and regular season MVP, the best defensive player of the year, and another dunk contest champion.

This is a story most fans know.

Jordan took part in the 1988 slam dunk contest.

But for Nike founder Phil Nate (Phil Knight), the meaning of these basketball shoes is not only that.

He has repeatedly mentioned Air Jordan 3's "temporary" designer Tinkei Hatfield (Tinker Hatfield), "I think he saved Nike."

In 1988, the emergence of these Air Jordan 3 successfully retained Michael Jordan, who was about to terminate her contract with Nike.

At the same time, Tinkei Hatfield designed the classic flying man logo so far, and is considered to be the key turning point for Nike and Jordan Brand to pform into giant brands in the future.

In Hatfield's memory, the picture 30 years ago is still clear.

Recently, the 66 year old man told ESPN about many details before the appearance of Air Jordan 3.

Tinkei Hatfield (Tinker Hatfield)

"Actually I was the substitute designer," Tinkei Hatfield said.

Prior to that, Nike creative director Peter Moore (Peter Moore) was the chief designer of the first two generations of Air Jordan, but in 1987, the famous designer jumped from Nike to competing Adidas.

Even more embarrassing for Nike is that Jordan's contract will expire in 1989, and the US brand is very anxious about renewing the contract.

"At that time, Michael really wanted to leave us," Tinkei Hatfield said. "I know Michael is not satisfied with Air Jordan 2."

The shoes made of Italy leather and solid soles are too hard for Jordan.

As Peter Moore and Jordan have a better relationship, and the "father of the air force one" (Bruce Kilgore), who has signed a Nike and Jordan contract, will leave, the idea of the flight is even stronger. He even thinks that Nike has not designed the shoes to make it full.

A common saying is that Peter Moore wants to bring Jordan to Adidas in a good way.

In such a dilemma, Hatfield was in danger. He was suddenly asked by Nike to take Peter Moore's Air Jordan 3 design work.

If these new shoes are not able to achieve breakthroughs, Jordan and Nike make two shots almost certainly.

Although Hatfield has just been involved in designing Air Max, at that time, the new designer's reputation remained general.

Born in Oregon, Hatfield was a track and field athlete. He entered University of Oregon in 1970s and majored in architectural design.

After graduation, he was originally an architect of Nike stores and entered the product design department in 1985.

Because Peter Moore left the design work to Hatfield only a week before leaving, the time became very urgent. Usually a pair of basketball shoes had a design cycle of one year, but there were only 6 months left. Nike needed to take out the design samples that could touch the flying men as soon as possible.

Hatfield recalled that Peter Moore's late pfer of the design project was actually part of his "Air Jordan" plan. He hoped that he would take Jordan away from it.

However, Hatfield has not had much time to pursue. What he wants to do is to put the design on schedule as soon as possible.

Tinkei Hatfield and Michael Jordan

In addition to color matching and

Besides, the first two generations of shoes have little reference to Jordan's design, and Hatfield believes that the design inspiration of Air Jordan 3 should be sought from Jordan.

So he flew to Chicago with Nike sports marketing executive Howard White (Howard White) and stayed with Jordan, then 24, for a day.

Meanwhile, in his apartment, busy Jordan also met with other designer designers.

"It's great to see him and the suit manufacturer together. He is picking materials and constantly putting forward his own opinions, such as not having that lapel and Jordan participating in the whole design process." this scene adds a lot of confidence to Hatfield. He believes Jordan will provide some valuable advice for the design of the third pairs of shoes.

Before coming to Chicago, Hatfield had found a bunch of different cortical samples, hoping to choose comfortable and high-grade leather materials to design shoes.

Jordan looked through the samples, and when he saw a material that imitated elephant skin, he was satisfied. "That's it."

Later, the material was displayed on the Air Jordan 3 vamp.

Logo design of burst pattern

The first two generations of shoes are all designed by Gao Gang. Jordan expressed the hope that the new shoes can slightly reduce the height of the upper and ensure the stability while enhancing the flexibility.

In the end, Air Jordan 3 was released in the middle of the design, and the middle end uses the visual Air Sole air cushion.

"Luckily, I found that Jordan enjoyed the design process very much. After that, designing shoes with him became a tradition. There were many stories about choosing which cortex and how to design sneakers," Hatfield said.

When he left office, Peter Moore handed over to the young designer a pile of design manuscripts. Hatfield found a picture of Jordan dunking in the middle.

He then drew a simple picture of his dunk and modified it on the basis of this picture. This is precisely the famous flying mark Air Jordan 3 today, becoming the first pair of shoes with flying sign.

Air Jordan 3 design sketch

But no one knows if Jordan likes this pair.

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Although he was very friendly with Tinker in designing discussions, Jordan remained reluctant to extend the contract.

The two sides formally opened the interview on Air Jordan 3 that day, and Jordan's behavior also showed his unwillingness.

Before the meeting, Nike found no sign of Jordan in the appointed time.

Hatfield and Nike founder Phil Nate and other executives waited, Jordan finally arrived four hours late. During this time, he flew golf with his good friend Peter Moore, and his father pulled him out of the stadium to attend the interview.

"He's not in a good mood," Hatfield described Jordan at that time. He didn't care about the interview, but he was even impatient.

In the documentary art abstract art of Netflix, there was a collection about Tinkei Hatfield's legendary career, detailing the process of becoming a Nike executive.

Hatfield and Jordan both mentioned the scene of the interview at the time of the documentary.

Hatfield first took out a batch of Air Jordan 3 designs and handed them to Jordan.

Seeing the design of the flying man complaining, "they showed me all kinds of design manuscripts. You have to give me the real shoes. I really know what it looks like."

Unexpectedly, Hatfield immediately pulled out a sack just brought back from Asia under the table, containing a sample of Air Jordan 3 in the bag.

In fact, after the design was basically completed, Hatfield traveled to Asian factories several times to communicate with developers and make samples. He thought Jordan would be interested in these shoes.

When Hatfield opened the bag, the expression of the flying man changed, and even a big smile appeared.

According to his wishes, the shoes appear in the center design and the burst pattern, and the red flying sign printed on the tongue is even more obvious to him.

"When I took out my shoes, Michael grabbed it from me and began to look at it," Hatfield recalls. "He was in a bad mood, but 20 minutes later, he had his shoes in hand, and discussed the enthusiasm of the design and returned to him."

Jordan's irritable and restless faded away, and everyone's heart hung down.

Later, Jordan said in the documentary, "when he saw the elephant's stripes and shoes leather, he basically conquered me."

The interview is not over yet. Hatfield continues to take out some costume designs. "I have not only designed shoes for you, but also designed matching ones.

You see, this is your new logo. "

The logo of the flying dunk is very conspicuous on these clothes, attracting Jordan's thoughts.

The final result is well known that a dark battle has finally come to a conclusion.

Michael Jordan likes Air Jordan 3 very much, and the flying sign makes him see the importance of the brand. He finally decided to renew his contract with Nike, and Tinkei Hatfield became his chief designer.

Later, Air Jordan 3 was once rated as the greatest basketball shoe in history by ESPN. It officially opened the brilliant curtain of Air Jordan in the basketball shoe market.

30 years later, Jordan and Nike still maintain a cooperative relationship.

The Jordan Brand, founded in 1998, has become the most influential brand of basketball shoes, with annual sales of over $3 billion.

Jordan earned a lot of money. He earned at least 100 million dollars a year from Nike.

What's interesting is that in the long run, Nike founder Phil Nate often said, "Hatfield saved Nike," but Jordan didn't think so.

In recent years, flying people have revealed that choosing to stay at Nike has the greatest credit for his father. On the day of the interview, when old Jordan pulled his son out of the golf course, he once swore in the parking lot not to monkey around. "Do not disrespect Mr. Phil again."

In response, Hatfield joked, "my father gave him good advice to stay in Nike instead of leaving.

But don't tell Mr. knight, because he always thinks I'm the one who really saved Nike. "

Air Jordan 3 "Tinker"

In 2018, Air Jordan 3 listed 30th anniversary of the nodes, Jordan Brand launched multiple double edition shoes, the most notable is Air Jordan 3 "Tinker".

The design of this pair of basketball shoes comes from the first draft of Hatfield's manuscript. On the basis of it, Nike's check mark and Hatfield's personal signature are added to honor the legendary designer.

In March 24th, when the shoes were sold on Nike's official website, they were quickly sold out.

30 years later, the story of Air Jordan 3 is not over yet.