Although Michael Jordan has been part of Nike since 1984, it was in 1997 that the Jordan Brand was unveiled as a sub-brand of Nike. Back when the Jordan Brand was initially announced, the brand signed five athletes from the NBA. None of them were given a signature shoe to promote the brand, yet they appeared in commercials at the time for the Jordan Brand.

The first-ever athlete who was signed to Jordan Brand and was given his own signature shoe was Carmelo Anthony. Although Anthony recently revealed how proud he is of being the first, new reports suggest that Anthony might not be the first one to have his own signature shoes with Jordan.

The 1997 Team Jordan had some hidden gems

In a recent video from Nice Kicks, throwback shoes from the ’90s were brought forward to debunk whether Carmelo was actually the first signature athlete signed to Jordan. Back when the Jordan Brand was first announced, five NBA players were signed to the brand, and they were called Team Jordan.

They were Ray Allen, Vin Baker, Eddie Jones, Derek Anderson, and Michael Finley. Although none of them were given official signature shoes with their names on them, looking back at it, it was right in front of us.

In 1999, the Jordan Brand released the Jordan Jumpman Vindicate, which could be a play on Vin Baker’s name. Apart from this, another athlete who was signed to Jordan at the time was Eddie Jones. He wore the number 6 on his jersey at the time. But back in 1998, right after the release of the Air Jordan 4, the Jordan Quick 6 was released, and it was heavily worn by Eddie Jones.

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But a few years after the initial release of the brand, Jordan ventured outside basketball and signed Randy Moss from the NFL. That is where the obvious Jordan Mossified comes in. The shoe is definitely a play on Randy Moss’s name, and the shoe even had a big ‘M’ on the back of it.

Michael Jordan wanted Carmelo Anthony to be the one

In 2003, when both LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony were headlining the NBA draft, Nike signed LeBron and Jordan signed Anthony. Carmelo, at that time, signed the biggest deal ever given out by Michael Jordan, which was 3.5 million per year for 6 years. Along with Jordan’s retirement that occurred earlier that year, Anthony was their choice to take on the mantle and lead the brand into the future.

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Carmelo brought out his own Jordan Melo 1.5 in 2004, and that was the beginning of the signature sneaker line in the Jordan Brand. Since then, the Jordan Brand has signed many players, and over 10 have their signature lines.

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Who do you think is the first-ever Jordan Brand athlete? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!