Whenever we talk about Michael Jordan, many people can blurt out his honors, achievements, statistics, and even the color of his sneakers, but off the court, besides golf and baseball, Michael Jordan has a less well-known hobby. –locomotive.
When his peers were still playing in the mud, Michael Jordan began to try off-road motorcycles. Although he grew up watching NASCAR racing, he always believed that the technical content of motorcycles was higher than this “turn left and turn in circles.” It can be said that the pursuit of speed has been carved into his bones along with his growth.
However, when he became an NBA player, the Chicago Bulls no longer allowed Michael Jordan to ride motorcycles, because if a related car accident occurs, it is likely to directly terminate a professional player’s sports career. A very realistic example occurred almost 20 years later. The Bulls’ second pick in 2002, Jay Williams, was precisely because of a serious car accident while driving a newly-purchased Yamaha locomotive, which allowed the rookie season to win three places in front of Jason Kidd. The double talented player fell away and stayed away from the basketball court.
Therefore, when Michael Jordan announced his retirement for the second time in 2003, he finally had time and opportunity to try locomotives. He met a local Chicago locomotive group headed by James Casmay at the gas station. One of them came forward and handed out a business card: “If you want to ride a bike, you can give us a call and we can work together.”
Michael dialed the call. Through James Casmay, he also met Montez Stewart, a local African American driver. “We didn’t plan to form a team at the beginning,” Casmay recalled. “But when I introduced Montez After giving it to Michael, you know that riding on the track and on the street is completely different.” They rented the track for a whole day, and it turned out that Michael was completely attracted, and he planned to help Montez get Better career development.
In 2004, with the help of Pete Mauhar, a veteran professional team manager, Michael Jordan Motorsports was established. Prior to this, the sport of superbike has been used by “factory teams” such as Suzuki, Honda, Yamazaki, Ducati and Yamaha. Ruled by.
Generally speaking, the establishment of a new team takes 1 year or more. They need to negotiate sponsorship, find equipment, and find suitable drivers and mechanics, and at the same time obtain the approval of the World Supermotor Championship. But when Michael Jordan showed up, it only took five weeks.
Almost only one night later, Yamaha provided a batch of cars from Japan at a discounted price and sent them directly to Gemini Technology Systems, a Wisconsin-based company responsible for car tuning and management. They even painted these cars. In the North Carolina color scheme that Michael Jordan is most familiar with.
Afterwards, old friends from Gatorade, Hanes, Upper Deck and others entered the stadium. Jordan himself invited Mark Smith, then senior creative director of Jordan Brand, to be responsible for the team’s racing patterns, racing suits, and related equipment and sneakers.
Therefore, in 2006, we saw that pair of extremely rare Air Jordan 4 Motorsports that were once only built for team members. Before it was reissued and put on sale in 2017, it might be one of the rarest Air Jordan 4s. The price on the website once reached 30,000 U.S. dollars.
However, what not many people know is that the two pairs of Air Jordan 4, which were called “Thunderbolt suits” by Chinese shoe fans, which were released on August 23, 2006, are also unique colors for the Michael Jordan Motorsports team. .
The difference is that these two pairs of shoes were sold in suits at the time. Thunder color matching and a jacket form a suit, priced at $500; and Lightning color matching and a Tee form another suit priced at $250. (At the time, a pair of Air Jordan 4 “Military Blue” was sold for only $115.)
More interestingly, 15 years ago, when shoe pumping software had not yet appeared, and people were not even familiar with online shopping, the Air Jordan 4 “Thunder and Lighting Pack” appeared on Jumpman23 in the form of a surprise sale. com, which also makes it one of the first shoes to be sold online, and it is also an exploration and experiment of a new business model.
The scarce quantity and bold color matching made the two pairs of shoes quickly become dream-level collectibles after they were released. In 2012, 6 years later, the Thunder color matching in the suit was the first to be re-enacted, but the other pair of Lightning color matching remained silent. .
Therefore, since its inception, whether it is on the feet of Travis Scott, ASAP Rocky or PJ Tucker and Nick Young on the court, every appearance of Air Jordan 4 “Lightning” has been the focus of no doubt. Compared with the non-public sale of joint names such as Undefeated and Eminem, people have a glimmer of hope that it will return, but they did not expect this to be 15 years.
On almost the same day 15 years later, Air Jordan 4 “Lightning” returned silently like an old friend, with the original color scheme, brand-new shoe box design, and what was once out of reach but now within reach comes from A wonderful memory 15 years ago.
Post time: Dec-20-2021