Hacker News Reader

Comment by golergka | Hacker News Reader

> not a direct representation of the sports players popularity

And how exactly did these shoes got their name?

How did the Teddy bear get its name? The popularity of plush bears doesn't much reflect the popularity of Theodore Roosevelt.

There is a much higher connection between the shoes and player for "jordan", though. Especially a link in time.

Michael Jordan doesn't much factor in, that is why no rappers are wearing his jersey or his number(23). Jordans, the shoes, are mentioned in rap songs because of the status(very expensive and hard to come by) and fashion of the brand, like other brands mentioned in rap, Gucci, Prada, Fendi, etc.. Rappers don't know and don't care about the people who started or who are behind those brands, they are only mentioned for the high status and fashion associated with those brands.

> Rappers don't know and don't care about the people who started or who are behind those brands

This is...incredibly not true. The crossover between basketball and rap and hip-hop is significant and the cultural awareness of, uh, Michael Jordan is certainly there. Kendrick Lamar, Kurtis Blow, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Drake--the group of major rappers who've written songs about Jordan (Lamar) or have written songs that draw heavily from basketball and its history (the rest of that list) is huge.

I see what you are saying, he is acknowledged and recognized as one of the greats, but most probably never even think of him when talking about the shoes. Michael Jordan doesn't much factor in when rappers are talking about Jordans, his person is very separate from the fashion and status the shoes have come to represent.

Hell I spent $200-$300 4-5 years ago and bought a pair of the Spike Lee Jordans http://images.freshnessmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/ai... - I bought them purely for the fashion.

-I never like replying on a subject too much like this; this topic isn't that important, guess I must be bored :-/

I'll just leave this here.

http://rapgenius.com/Macklemore-and-ryan-lewis-wing-lyrics

For one, nobody wears jerseys anymore.

Not really the same thing. Those bears weren't named after Roosevelt and thus don't reflect his popularity whereas Jordans were clearly named after MJ himself.

> Those bears weren't named after Roosevelt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teddy_bear#History

Reply on news.ycombinator.com