Rich Paul Breaks Down How Michael Jordan Created "The Greatest Athlete Brand"

Rich Paul is in the business of helping athletes become businesses unto themselves. The work that Paul has done with LeBron James is proof that the Klutch Sports CEO knows the blueprint to an athlete’s brand development.

In Paul’s eyes, though, it isn’t his client who has done this better than everyone else. According to LBJ’s client, that distinction belongs to Michael Jordan. To illustrate this point, Paul whipped out a whiteboard on a recent episode of the “Game Over” podcast.

“Michael Jordan had two really great partners, one in Nike and the other one in Gatorade,” Paul said as he looked at a diagram that he had drawn on the board. 

“From a marketing perspective, they told two of the greatest stories,” Paul continued. “Nike, I believe I can fly…and it was Gatorade who created the lullaby, ‘Be like Mike.”

Hoops fans in the ‘80s and ‘90s will remember the two extremely popular campaigns that Paul is referencing here. Thanks to print ads, TV commercials, and billboards funded by Nike and Gatorade, Jordan became a larger-than-life figure who inspired individuals to defy the odds and relentlessly pursue their goals.

“At a time when we didn’t have social media, and people didn’t have computers in abundance in their houses, you had sports. And he was at the forefront of it,” Paul said of MJ.

Paul, whose other Klutch Sports clients include Anthony Davis and Draymond Green, went so far as to say that the fashion trends of Jordan’s time worked in his favor as well. “In the 70s, people wore shoes, suits, and pants. In the late 80s and 90s, people wore sneakers.”

To cap off his point, Paul called Jordan “the greatest athlete brand ever” and delivered a strong statement regarding Jordan’s cultural dominance. “Michael Jordan didn’t share the market. He controlled the market.”

In an era where marketing campaigns can go viral in less than 24 hours, the phenomenon of the Air Jordans and the unbelievably catchy “Be Like Mike” jingle remain excellent examples of well-executed branding strategy. Just as Paul explained, Jordan’s brilliance on the court fed right into his effectiveness as an endorser.