Charles Barkley is known as one of the most talented and successful NBA players of all time.
But he’s also a very talented businessman.
While most of his success in the business world came from his own skill and knowledge, some of it came from another basketball icon.
On “The Steam Room,” Barkley talked about advice he got from Michael Jordan about a deal he was signing with shoe company Nike.
“Michael gave me some great advice sometimes. He said, ‘Hey man, why you need all that money? I was looking at your contract. You’re making about three million dollars. Tell Nike you want a million and you want the rest in stock options.’” Barkley said.
Michael Jordan gave Chuck some great advice on his Nike deal 🐐#TheSteamRoom: pic.twitter.com/4zuojdMA0g
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 27, 2023
Barkley said he ran that idea by his management team and they gave him the thumbs up.
The rest is history.
He wanted to take the advice of Jordan because, even back then, he was one of the most iconic players in the game.
Jordan’s concept was obviously a brilliant one.
Back then, Nike wasn’t known as the massive shoe company they are today.
In fact, the sort of deals they have now weren’t very common back then and they didn’t result in billions of dollars.
By taking the stock options, Barkley didn’t just accept a one-time payment from the company, he signed onto their long-term future.
Considering we see the Nike logo everywhere and it’s one of the most successful shoe companies of all time, it’s clear that he made the right choice.
Barkley has surely gained millions from this deal, along with the others signed with TNT, CNN, and numerous other companies.
He found great success not only on the court but off of it as well.
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