As the legend goes, before Michael Jordan signed with Nike, he had his eyes and his heart set on a different sneaker brand—adidas. If things had gone just a little differently, we’d probably be rocking three-striped Air Jordans today. Well, maybe. One artist has gone down the rabbit hole and imagined what that would look like practically. With his beautiful designs, artist Eric Paullin, aka @elpaulli on Instagram, has answered sneakerheads’ biggest questions: What if Adidas had made that deal? What would Michael Jordan’s Air Jordan sneakers look like today with Adidas’ Three Stripes branding instead of the Swoosh?
Netflix docu-series, The Last Dance, has shared some revealing insight into Michael Jordan’s failed deal with Adidas. See, as a young rookie making his way to the top of the game, he admired Adolf “Adi” Dassler’s brand and pushed for a deal with the then-biggest sneaker brand in the world. However, adidas wasn’t so keen on fulfilling all of Jordan’s demands. That’s when Deloris Jordan—Mike’s mom—stepped in and convinced him to give Nike a chance.
In some twisted alternate reality, Michael Jordan probably didn’t take the deal with Nike and got everything he wanted from Adidas. Eric Paullin gives us a glimpse into what those sneakers could possibly look like. And honestly, they’re fire!
Paullin reimagined some of the most iconic Jordan sneakers—everything from the Jordan 1 to the Jordan 11—but swapped out the famous Nike swoosh or Jordan branding for the Adidas logo. Of course, you might be thinking, “But Jordan didn’t design the shoes anyway!” Yeah, we know. Peter Moore and Tinker Hatfield were the ones who came up with the designs of the Jordans over the years. Still, it’s a nice “what if”.
What if the Jumpman logo never existed? What if Boost had replaced Air cushioning? What if sneaker culture evolved a little differently?
Check out the impressive Adidas Michael Jordan sneakers fan art below. But if this mashup isn’t your vibe, maybe stick to the classics—check out our Guide to Every Air Jordan Sneaker Release (1 to 39).
