Michael Jordan unveiled his Jordan brand back in 1997. One of the first players to get officially signed by the brand was Vin Baker. Along with making a name for himself through his versatility on the floor, Baker was one of the key players of the Seattle Supersonics and, in 1997, helped lead his team to the top of the standings during the regular season.

As Baker was signed to the Jordan Brand, he wanted to be in a commercial with MJ. Although he took a 2064-mile journey to get to the sets of the production, the Chicago Bulls icon was not too amused at the sight of Baker.

Michael Jordan taught Vin Baker a valuable lesson

In a recent episode of the Knuckleheads podcast, the special guest was Vincent Lamont Baker, famously known as Vin Baker. During his conversation with Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles, Baker, who started in the league with the Milwaukee Bucks, talked about his experience after getting signed by the Jordan Brand.

In one instance, there was a commercial being shot by the Jordan Brand, and Baker wanted to be a part of it. Having moved to the Seattle Supersonics, who were number one in the West at the time, Baker begged his team to fly him to Chicago from Seattle – a four-hour trip.

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As Baker was already a 3-time All-Star at the time and new to the team, they agreed to the request, and Baker made it to Chicago for his small cameo in the commercial. As he got to the set and saw MJ, Jordan was not happy about it.

Baker said, “He said to me, What the hell are you doing here? And I was like, I’m coming for the commercial. That was one of my first lessons, like, nah, bro. You in a place now where you winning. This is secondary.”

Jordan knew that the Supersonics had a game against the Utah Jazz, who were also aiming for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. So Jordan was not happy to see Baker at the commercial when he should be focusing on the game that was coming up for him.

MJ made history in 1997 with the Jordan Brand

Nike and Michael Jordan have had a very successful partnership throughout the early years of Jordan’s career. In just his rookie season, Nike did 126 million in sales with the Jordan shoes. But it was in 1997 that things changed. Nike and Jordan announced the Jordan brand as an official sub-brand.

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They signed five players from the NBA to the team Jordan for repping Air Jordan shoes with non-signature shoe deals. Two years later, they expanded beyond basketball and started signing marquee players from other sports as well.

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