Seeing Larry Johnson make a $1 million from Converse, Michael Jordan changed his deal with Nike which led him to become a billionaire

Larry Johnson just signed his first NBA contract for the Charlotte Hornets in 1991 when he topped Michael Jordan as the best-paid shoe endorser. “His Airness” was already unquestionably the top draw in the league but was still on his original contract with Nike.

Here’s “LJ” on how his contract with Converse helped Jordan reshape his deal with Phil Knight via his Facebook post:

“In 1991, I received the largest shoe deal in history. Michael Jordan was making $500k a year from #nike and #converse was paying me $1 million dollars.

"Mike was never mad. He actually called me up and thanked me. He said his shoe deal was up in a few months and he was going to make #nikeshoes pay him a lot more. Jordan was just as good in business as he was on the court.”

Michael Jordan was famously hesitant to sign with Nike, a running shoe company, over basketball heavyweights such as Adidas and Converse. Knight’s people, however, authored one of the biggest and most incredible business deals in history by convincing Jordan to endorse their shoes.

Nike offered “MJ” $500k for five years, the Air Jordan line and two Mercedes cars. This was what it took “The Swoosh” to turn their company into the multi-billion dollar footwear it is today.

But back then, despite the mind-boggling sales Michael Jordan was generating for Phil Knight’s company, he was still on his $500K contract.

Larry Johnson, the loud and brash rookie from UNLV, doubled that with Converse, who were trying to make up for their failure to sign Jordan.

Jordan’s partnership with Nike has been strong since 1984. But somehow along the way, Johnson helped “MJ’s” business strategy with the footwear giant.

Here is Larry Johnson's Facebook post

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Larry Johnson was almost as influential as Michael Jordan in the early '90s

"Grandmama" took the NBA by storm in the early '90s.

The '90s was unquestionably Michael Jordan’s era. He was the king and the face of the NBA. But for a brief period in the early years of that decade, Larry Johnson was just as popular as “His Airness.”

Converse, who was desperate to be relevant in the league again, signed Johnson to the biggest shoe deal yet in 1991. The rookie was going to be the new face of the footwear brand, replacing legendary greats Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.

Converse’s biggest selling point to Larry Johnson was to appear in a commercial with Bird and Magic. “LJ” was supposed to be the heir apparent to two of the biggest superstars who carried the NBA for most of the '80s.

The said commercial never materialized. Instead, they went down a different route that helped launch Larry Johnson into stardom:

“Then they come back two months later after I spent the money and bought my mom a house, and they say, 'We’ve got another idea. We want to put you in a dress.' That was Grandmama.”

Johnson’s character was irreverent, fun and hip. He connected with the youth at that time. His character became so popular that he appeared in one of the episodes of “Family Matter.”

Unfortunately, chronic back injuries forced Larry Johnson into the background while Michael Jordan absolutely ruled the NBA in the '90s. MJ was the man in basketball and sneakers.