While the NBA was famously against Michael Jordan's black and red sneakers in the 1980s, its policies birthing the myth of the "Banned" Air Jordan 1, that didn't stop its execs from trying to grab pairs of the shoes. In an interview with The Score 1260 on Wednesday, sportswriter Roland Lazenby told a story about then-commissioner David Stern asking a Nike employee for a hookup on the shoes.
According to Lazenby, the Nike employee in question was in New York to meet with Stern about the banning of the shoes when the commissioner put in the request.
"As the Nike official was leaving Stern said, 'Look, I'm sorry I had to ban the shoe but could you get Michael to sign a pair for my son?'" Lazenby recounted.
There is some debate over whether the sneakers banned by the NBA were actually Air Jordans, but most sneaker historians agree that it's much more likely that the Air Ship was the violating shoe.
