He didn't come up with it. Nike had been trying to create a Basketball shoe in the 1980s and needed someone to be the face of a brand and it happened to be him. He was also very good in college and all throughout his NBA rookie season.
Chat with our AI personalities
Nike offered him money as a rookie so that helped but at first he didn't want to wear the Nike Air Jordan 1 because it was to colorful and he thought it was a clown shoe.