In the latest installment of mediabistroTV’s series My First Big Break, we talk to legendary filmmaker Spike Lee.

While Lee is well-known for movies like “Red Hook Summer,” did you know that if it wasn’t for NBA superstar Michael Jordan and a pair of Nike Air Jordan sneakers, Lee–and Nike–might not be the icons they have become today? It all came down to a risky commercial shoot.

“So Michael Jordan could easily have said, ‘I can’t take a chance on this young gun, this young boy. Just give me the reels of the top guys on Madison Avenue.’ But Michael Jordan didn’t do that,” The “Red Hook Summer” director recalls. “For some reason, he decided to give me a shot. And the commercial I did with Michael Jordan ended up being some of the greatest campaigns ever in the history of advertising and Nike took off.”

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