One of basketball’s most iconic nicknames and built-in marketing campaigns could have belonged to a different NBA legend altogether.
According to a new report from ESPN, Kobe Bryant’s “Black Mamba” moniker was originally pitched to none other than Michael Jordan. Reporter Baxter Holmes traces the nickname back to 2002, when Nike, Inc. was evaluating a new technology known as Tech Flex, which was used on 2004’s Air Jordan 19.
Nike executive Gentry Humphrey, who’s currently the vice president of Jordan footwear, likened the look to that of a snake — specifically the highly venomous black mamba. Soon thereafter, the Beaverton-Ore.-based company and its longtime ad agency partner Wieden + Kennedy put together a campaign around the new Air Jordan 19 featuring striking snake imagery.
The black mamba Air Jordan 19 ad from the March ’04 issue of ESPN The Magazine.
There was just one minor hiccup: Jordan, who at the time was heavily hands-on in the creation of his sneakers, had yet to sign off. Unbeknownst to the teams who had come up with the black mamba concept, Jordan had a hidden fear of snakes. Jackie Thomas, who was Jordan Brand’s director of marketing at the time, was tasked with convincing the NBA legend to go through with the campaign.
After Thomas told Jordan that scrapping the campaign could mean losing millions of dollars, Jordan reluctantly agreed to let the brand run the initial Air Jordan 19 snake advertisement, but said subsequent ads would need to be changed. The original black mamba ad appeared briefly in print including a March ’04 issue of ESPN The Magazine.
Nike Kobe 6 Protro Grinch.
Meanwhile, also in ’03, Bryant was reportedly inspired by the film “Kill Bill: Vol. 2” to adopt the black mamba name. Nike would later incorporate the snake theme into his signature line; designer Eric Avar says it originated with 2007’s Nike Zoom Kobe 3. By the time 2010’s scale—covered Kobe 6 arrived, the black mamba inspiration was obvious.
ESPN’s report goes on to state that multiple close to Bryant say he was unaware of Jordan’s scrapped campaign, apparently making the connection nothing more than a well-timed coincidence.
