Eminem once made an innocent joke and nearly jeopardized his shoe deal with Michael Jordan. Find out what went wrong!

Eminem’s near-miss shoe deal with Michael Jordan. Hear all the details from the rapper!

Eminem has had multiple collaborations with the Jordan brand on limited-edition sneakers. However, the partnership route was not straightforward. In an April 2020 interview with Sway on SiriusXM Shade 45, star rapper Eminem recounted the experience where he almost blew a shoe deal with Michael Jordan over a joke. Apparently, Eminem was discussing a potential collaboration on a shoe with Michael Jordan over the phone. Things were going well, and the rapper thought the Chicago Bulls legend seemed cool.

However, at the end of the call, Eminem, perhaps trying to lighten the mood, made a playful remark. He jokingly asked Jordan, “Yo, man, when are you gonna come to Detroit so I can dunk on you?” The joke landed with a thud. There was silence on the other end of the line. Eminem worried he’d offended Jordan and blown the deal.

Luckily, things turned out alright. While Eminem fretted, the deal went through.  Eminem has even collaborated on several Air Jordan shoes since then, though some were limited releases.

Eminem X Air Jordan

Eminem has collaborated on several Air Jordan shoes throughout his career.

1. Air Jordan IV ‘Encore’ (2005 & 2017): This shoe was first released in 2005, a limited edition design to celebrate the release of Eminem’s album Encore. The shoe features a grey and blue color scheme with the album’s title embroidered on the tongue. It was re-released in 2017 with a slightly different shade of grey.

2. Air Jordan Retro 2 ‘The Way I Am’ (2008): Inspired by Eminem’s autobiography of the same name, this shoe released in 2008, featured lyrics from the book throughout the upper. Only 313 pairs were released, a nod to Detroit’s area code (313) and Eminem’s hometown.

3. Carhartt x Air Jordan 4 ‘Shady Records’ (2015): This collaboration in 2015 celebrated the 15th anniversary of Eminem’s record label, Shady Records. It featured a premium black suede upper with Carhartt’s signature branding and Eminem’s logos. Only 10 pairs were released for charity.

Did You Know Eminem Wanted to be a Basketball Player?

Eminem has openly spoken about wanting to be a basketball player when he was younger, around 18 years old. In his autobiography, The Way I Am, Eminem describes how he debated between focusing on basketball or rap.  He eventually chose rap, thankfully for music fans everywhere! Additionally, Eminem has been spotted courtside at Detroit Pistons games, his hometown team.