Michael Jordan. A name we all know... (so I hope). Michael Jordan was Nike's biggest star and after being signed to Nike for two seasons in the NBA he was very unhappy with his first two shoes that Nike had designed for him and was getting close to leaving. Phil Knight, (Nike's CEO) told Tinker that he would be creating the next Air Jordan shoe. Tinker didn't realize how important this was for Nike. Tinker was given this task to create the next Air Jordan six months behind schedule. Tinker devoted the next few weeks with minimal sleep to make sure this shoe would impress Michael.
After countless trips overseas to get a prototype, a big meeting was scheduled with Michael Jordan and both of his parents, Phil Knight, the head of sports marketing, and Tinker. Michael didn't show up to meeting for almost 4 hours. Ultimately, Michael showed up but was in a bad mood and said, "show me what you got." Tinker Hatfield sat down with Michael and showed him the prototype. After hours of talking to Michael and showing him the prototype with everything Michael wanted, Michael was sold.
Phil Knight told Tinker Hatfield that he believes he helped save Nike with the design of the Air Jordan 3.
