Before Michael Jordan became synonymous with Nike and Jumpman 23, Magic Johnson wore some purple, yellow and white Converse that looked pretty good for the time. Converse had been the legendary shoe of Doctor J–an iconic white pair with its red star can still be seen flying through the dreams of players who had to defend against Doc. But Jordan ushered in a whole new era, taking hoops and sneaker marketing to levels unseen before.
Back in the day, Magic did some cool commercials with nemesis Larry Bird for Converse, but then the brand faded back to its canvas Chuck Taylor All-Star roots–the shoe forever of Bill Russell and urban hipsters. By the time basketball shorts got long even Magic Johnson had moved on to Air Jordans. In a recent interview captured by The PostGame, Magic revealed that he still calls up Jordan for free AJs all the time. He only buys the Nikes that Mike doesn’t send over. Converse, btw, is owned by Nike now.
