Funny thing happened yesterday, Nike decided to give a lifetime  contract, worth more than $500 million dollars to LeBron James. Listen, while the rest of America is trying to figure out they can their wages to increase even 5%, this cat just got a deal that will pay him more money than 85% of Americans will ever make.

Can we not stop and take stock of that for a second? I’m all for Capitalism and spending your dollars to promote your brand, but damn is he really worth that kind of money? Then I have to remember that the other superstars of this era have signed enormous contracts in that general ball park over the past  offseason or two.

LeBron, KD,  Big Game James and others you can thank one man for those kinds of deals on shoes.. Michael Jordan. Yes, the king of the court was really the man who set the explosion of shoe companies trying to grab players and give them these max deals. He was the man who made  brand and has kept that brand popular, relevant and extremely profitable for the past 30 years.

Yes, think about that for a minute. Since 1984 His Royal Airness has been making shoes that have made people go crazy for three decades and there appears to be no slowing down of folks buying his shoes. He even has Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul in their own customized Jordan shoes. How much of a mogul and smart businessman must he and his people be?

He owned an NBA franchise, continues to have a partnership with a company that makes him money hand over fist and in my mind, someday will be the face of the NBA with his moniker being the NBA logo. Michael was the revolutionary for basketball.

Yes, there have been folks who helped to contribute to the popularity of basketball athletes, but there really can be no mistakes that from 1984 until his retirement in the 2000’s Michael Jordan was really the NBA. While others in the league made their namesake and built their legacies, he was cementing his and laying the foundation for his next chapter.

While he has yet to achieve the same success as an Owner and executive right now, I’m reminded back to when Jordan came into the league. Early in his career he could score better than anyone, but without the proper support system he was an early exit from the playoffs or a nonplayoff team all together. Once he got the right coach and cast he became the best in the game and the rest is history. I truly believe that he will figure it out and while he may not win 6 rings, he will win a few during his tenure.