Jordan Was Royalty For America's Urban Youth

CLEVELAND - With Michael Jordan being selected for induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame a couple days ago, it made me reflect on his gigantic impact on the urban area that I grew up in and the colossal dreams he inspired.

He was the ultimate role-model.

In my early years, I cared nothing about sports. My friends and other neighborhood peers were always playing basketball, baseball and football, but not me. I had more important things to care about. It was very odd though, that I noticed a growing "sports" trend while I was a third grader in 1985.

Many of my fellow eight and nine year old (boys) would take a piece of paper, crumple it into a ball and toss it at a wastebasket. If the paper ball made it into the basket, the kid would punctuate it by shouting, "Jordan!" I didn't know who this Jordan guy was, but of course, I later found out. 

It wasn't until I attended middle school (1989-90) that I finally fell in love with the basketball god that every other boy was already enamored with. I was in the middle of my 7th grade year in the Spring of 1990 and I noticed another growing trend; countless Chicago Bulls starter jackets and a litany of Air Jordan basketball shoes on the feet of dozens of students.

According to the chatter, you were something special if you had a pair of the vaunted, mega high-priced footwear. I took an interest in the unique and sleek design of the shoe and eventually asked other guys about them. Most people were still wearing the Air Jordan IV, which had initially been released in the fall of 1988, but spawned a few different colorways throughout 1989. Since I was just getting hip to the shoes in early '90, a new edition was about to hit stores.

I hated them at first!

The latest pair of "Jordans" were released with an ever bigger than usual price tag; $125. This was such a steep price for my mother to digest, that I didn't think I'd ever get a pair of the shoes that I just had to have. Good thing I didn't like them -- I wanted the '88-'89 edition, which were now being sold for some thirty-five bucks less. I ended up with the white, red and black AJIV, and I treated them like a newborn baby!

I eventually fell in love with the Air Jordan V which led to me falling in love with Jordan himself, then basketball (which I started watching on TV and learned how to play solely because of him) and finally, a fan of the NBA period. When I couldn't afford the shoes, I began making three-dimensional replicas of them out of paper and wore them as necklaces. This became my calling card in Junior High and High School, and even now --nearly 20 years later, folks still ask me if I still make them!

Another popular trend for the hood boys was to skip school on the day a new pair of Air Jordans were released (this resulted in a change to weekend-only releases years later). This was often done by the adolescent drug dealers who happened to think spending $133.75 (the exact price with tax) three or four times a year was chump change for a brand new pair of the super popular J's. Anytime someone in school or in the neighborhood had on a pair of the latest edition or colorway, we all scrambled to get a glimpse and or give our critique of them.

"Dem bitches look hard! I'ma get 'dem tomorrow!!"

Jordan's mythical popularity found its way into television and film too. In the 1986 film, She's Gotta Have It, the film's writer, director and co-star Spike Lee outfitted his character Mars Blackmon with a pair of the very first Jordans, the Air Jordan I which caused heavy fines to be levied against the Bulls superstar, but was paid by the sneaker's creators Nike Inc.

Then, in Lee's 1988 film School Daze, the Air Jordan III (the first with the visible Air, and colloquially known as the "air pocket") made an appearance. But the Air Jordan IV got an entire scene dedicated to it in the seminal Lee flick, 1989's Do the Right Thing. That film, set in the Bed-Stuy area of Brooklyn, N.Y. completely reflects the obsession and love-affair that young black men had with their own pair of Jordan's basketball shoes.

Other key examples of MJ's unmatched aura was illustrated subtly by actor Will Smith during the first several seasons of his television series, The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. Smith, 22 at the time famously sports a pair of the Air Jordan V's in the opening credits of the series. He also wore all three original colorways during season one and religiously rocked every subsequent new edition in following seasons. Smith's real-life admiration for Jordan was revealed at the 2005 BET awards, when the Academy Award-nominated actor (who hosted the program with his wife) acknowledged as much during a short shout-out to MJ, who was present in the audience with BET founder Robert L. Johnson. Smith's gesture earned a smiling Jordan a standing ovation.

Malcolm Jamal-Warner's Theo Huxtable sported a pair of the Air Jordan II's during a couple episodes of the 1986-87 season of The Cosby Show. Kadeem Hardison's Dwayne Wayne, a geek in every other way on TV's A Different World, was ultra cool when it came to his shoe game; he was a diligent wearer of the Air Jordans as was his buddy Ron.

Michael Jordan's remarkable brilliance, style and confidence undoubtedly contributed mightily to the popularity of his eponymous sneakers. He endeared himself to us kids in "the 'hood" because he seemed to be just another one of us -- a young, black kid that simply liked to hoop. It was in fact how he started. The fact that he grew into an international, multi-billion dollar basketball immortal was well, just the residue of his superior work ethic and determination.

Beyond the stats, skills and awards, Jordan's seismic impact on America's culture is the true measure of his legacy.

He IS the Hall of Fame.