AIR JORDAN IV MOTORSPORT
BEHIND THE DESIGN
Everyone knows Michael Jordan’s story: NBA champion, movie star, CEO. His fans can recite every statistic, every sneaker, and identify even the most obscure memorabilia. But something very few know, even his most fervent fans, is his passion for motorsports.
Jordan’s love of motorsports began before he entered the NBA, but when he signed to the Bulls he agreed to stop riding (it was too much of a liability). His passion remained, and he still found time to get on a bike when he thought he could get away with it. He loved the sport and wanted to stay close to it, so in 2004 Jordan linked up with Pete Mauhar, a racing team manager with decades of experience, to pull together a team as quickly as possible. If Jordan couldn’t be on a bike himself, at least his name could be.
“I got a call from someone I didn't know who was asking about whether we'd want to help Michael Jordan go into racing. Which was a pretty bizarre call, really,” Mauhar says. “Honestly, I thought it was some of my friends messing around with me.”
No one was messing around with him.
In about five weeks, Mauhar and his team helped Jordan pull together a team, a task that usually takes the better part of a year. They also did it right before Daytona, the first race of the year, so most equipment, riders and staff were already tied to other teams. Jordan, Mauhar and their crew grabbed whatever and whoever they could.
While Mauhar got the team together, Jordan put in a call to Mark Smith, Senior Creative Director of Innovation at Nike. Jordan tried to rope Smith into designing some gear for the team but left out an important point: that the team even existed. Jordan simply said he needed a racing suit, so Smith worked on one to Jordan’s personal specs. After a back and forth about the design, Jordan finally admitted to Smith: “I have a team and they're going to be racing in three weeks, so we need to kind of get this done.” Smith was stunned for a moment, then made it happen.
Smith designed the looks for the bikes, suits and anything else that touched the team – even creating the Jordan team sneakers.
“We weren't doing it to create any heat in the market with sneakerheads. I don't do that,” Smith explains. “What I was doing was making something specific to these guys. And it's appropriate, it matches up with the bike and it matches up in the paddock. I look at things as a photograph. There's nothing better than a pair of sneakers on a motorcycle. And we made it match. That's enough of a reason to do it.”
After designing a handful of team sneakers, in 2006 Smith unveiled a pair of Jordan IVs in a black, white and royal blue colorway that remains one of the most sought after Jordan sneakers for serious collectors.
This season, Jordan is making that highly sought after pair of Jordan IVs available to the public. They may have originally been created for a very small, very elite group, but this year Jordan is bringing them back for everyone.
