Michael Jordan was fined $5000 after every NBA game for violating strict league rule

Michael Jordan was fined $5,000 by the NBA after every game because he violated a strict league rule.

The Chicago Bulls legend is one of the most successful basketball players to ever live, winning the NBA Championship on six occasions and being named as the season-end Finals MVP five times.

He was active in the NBA across 19 years, though took a three-year spell out of the sport between 1998 and 2001 before being coaxed out of retirement to end his career with the Washington Wizards.

The brand best associated with Jordan throughout his career and beyond, meanwhile, was Nike, who sponsored him from his rookie season onwards.

Nike spent their entire $2.5 million budget on a sponsorship deal for Jordan in 1984, with the American required to achieve one of four clauses inserted into the deal to keep the contract rolling. He achieved all four.

Jordan now earns a staggering $500 million per year from Nike, as he collaborates with them on projects outside of basketball including the 'Air Jordan' shoe range.

But the sponsorship did come at a comparatively far minor cost for Jordan, with the American forced to pay a $5,000 fine to the NBA after every game on the court in the early stages of his career.

Jordan began wearing the 'Air Jordan 1' - the first release as part of his new signature shoe line - in 1984, but it fell foul of NBA bosses.

The shoe did not meet the commission's regulations, as it was mandated that each player's footwear had to be at least 51 per cent white, or white and in accordance with the rest of the team's uniform.

A signed copy of Michael Jordan's 'Air Jordan 1' shoes were placed up for auction in 2022 (Image: Getty)

However, the fine had the total opposite effect to what NBA chiefs might have hoped.

Nike agreed to cover the entire cost of Jordan's fines into the 1985 season, publicising that they were doing so as part of a new marketing campaign.

The result was that Nike sold $70 million worth of 'Air Jordan' shoes by May 1985, with their campaign alerting people to the footwear who may never have been aware that it even existed otherwise and opening the shoe up to an entirely new audience outside of basketball.

The campaign slogan read: "On October 15, Nike created a revolutionary new basketball shoe. On October 18, the NBA threw them out of the game.

"Fortunately, the NBA can't keep you from wearing them. Air Jordans. From Nike."