?Maybe I Destroyed the Game? or Maybe You?re Just Making Excuses?: Admitting His ?Fault? on National TV, When Michael Jordan Redefined His NBA Career

In 14 years of his basketball career,?Chicago Bulls?legend?Michael Jordan?was given several nicknames, and a few of them were associated with his extraordinary ability to jump high up in the air for slam dunks. While his gravity-defying skills looked easy on him but ever wondered how many years of hustling it must have taken him to make each of his shots look like a piece of cake? Watching MJ smashing his opponents with ease often lets people forget the amount of effort and time invested in accomplishing that. To address a significant ‘mistake,’ His Airness appeared in a commercial aired over a decade ago.

The 14-year-old video was a commercial produced by Nike and addressed a common misconception that sports fans inadvertently have. It was aired in 2008 for the?Jordan Brand?and conveyed an important message to its viewers.

Michael Jordan comes forth with a strong message

The commercial ‘Maybe It’s My Fault’ addressed all the misconceptions fans had due to the lack of information. Watching players move around the court efficiently and living a lavish lifestyle can mislead fans to forget the monumental effort it took to get to that stage. The ad begins with a sideways shot of the iconic Michael Jordan statue in front of the United Center with the Chicago Bulls legend’s voice in the background.

The video montage then transitions to MJ’s list of accolades. It shows snippets of a gym, locker room, open basketball court, and his trophy collections before showing the Hall of Famer himself as he addresses a group of basketball players.

All the while, MJ can be heard in the background saying,?“Maybe it’s my fault. Maybe I led you to believe it was easy when it wasn’t. Maybe I made you think my highlights started at the free throw line, and not in the gym.”

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Furthermore, he added,?“Maybe it’s my fault that you didn’t see that failure gave me strength. That my pain was my motivation. May be I led you to believe that basketball was a God-given gift and not something I worked for every single day of my life. Maybe I destroyed the game…or maybe you’re just making excuses.”

The historic Nike contract

The trajectory of the Nike brand wholly changed when they got a rookie Michael Jordan to sign a contract with them in 1984. The 6x NBA champion had?initially wanted to sign with Adidas, but a deal was never made due to the company’s change in leadership. In the 80s, Nike was considered in a different league than Adidas and Converse but one deal with Jordan was enough to give both parties the boost they needed.

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Evidently,?the credit mostly belongs to MJ’s mother, who convinced a young Jordan to give the Nike executives a shot. Thanks to the deal, the 14x NBA All-Star earns millions per year from the sales.?