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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
DealIn June 2015, Nike signed an 8-year deal with the NBA to become the official uniform supplier for the league, beginning with the 2017–18 season.[197] The brand took over for Adidas, who provided the uniforms for the league since 2006.[197] Unlike previous deals, Nike's logo appear on NBA jerseys – a first for the league.[197] Initially, the Charlotte Hornets, owned by longtime Nike endorser Michael Jordan, were the only team not to sport the Nike swoosh, instead wearing the Jumpman logo associated with Jordan-related merchandise.[198] However, beginning with the 2020–21 season, the Jumpman replaced the swoosh on the NBA's alternate "Statement" uniforms.[199]Michael Jordan (pictured in 1987) helped drive Nike sales.Nike sponsors top athletes in many sports to use their products and promote and advertise their technology and design. Nike's first professional athlete endorser was Romanian tennis player Ilie Năstase.[26] The first track endorser was distance runner Steve Prefontaine. Prefontaine was the prized pupil of the company's co-founder, Bill Bowerman, while he coached at the University of Oregon. Today, the Steve Prefontaine Building is named in his honor at Nike's corporate headquarters. Nike has only made one statue of its sponsored athletes and it is of Steve Prefontaine.[200]Nike has also sponsored many other successful track and field athletes over the years, such as Sebastian Coe, Carl Lewis, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Michael Johnson and Allyson Felix. The signing of basketball player Michael Jordan in 1984, with his subsequent promotion of Nike over the course of his career, with Spike Lee as Mars Blackmon, proved to be one of the biggest boosts to Nike's publicity and sales.[201]Ronaldinho (pictured with Barcelona in 2007) appeared in a 2005 Nike advertisement that went viral on YouTube, becoming the site's first video to reach one million views.[202][203]Nike is a major sponsor of the athletic programs at Penn State
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