The history of Nike began when Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight met in the ’50s. But an NBA Hall of Famer turned down the chance to be a part of it. And that choice cost him billions…
“I was very aware of shoes when I was running track,” Knight told Stanford Magazine in 2008. “The American shoes were offshoots of tire companies. Shoes cost $5, and you would come back from a five-mile run with your feet bleeding. Then the German companies came in with $30 shoes, which were more comfortable. But Bowerman still wasn’t satisfied. He believed that shaving an ounce off a pair of shoes for a guy running a mile could make a big difference. So Bowerman began making shoes himself, and since I wasn’t the best guy on the team, I was the logical one to test the shoes.”