Will Smith is not given enough credit for the impact he has had on the fashion industry. While one waxes poetic about his career in rap and how his no-cuss words policy was a game changer, there is almost no mention of how he laid the foundations for how a generation of high school kids would dress. And he got the chance to take it up a notch during The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Smith may have been driven to star in the sitcom due to his low bank account balance, but he definitely did not let it affect his fashion game. And if that meant begging NBA legend Michael Jordan, then be it.

What did Will Smith beg Michael Jordan for?

Much like how Will Smith is defined by his successful acting career, Michael Jordan became a heavyweight in basketball and sneaker industry. It was around the time that Smith’s sitcom was taking off that Jordans began selling like hotcakes. And to stay a cut above the rest, Smith had no choice but to beg the basketball player for the latest designs. While talking to Showtime’s All the Smoke in 2021, Will Smith revealed he used to call Jordan and say, “Mike, please! Please! Don’t give it to nobody else.”

While he only revealed it decades later, it did not come as a shock to fans. Will Smith wore Air Jordans on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as if they were the uniform. This, among the other reasons highlighted by Ben Affleck’s AIR, played a huge part in the irreplaceable grip they hold on pop culture now.

He wore them in the theme song; he wore them in some of the most iconic scenes from the show, and would probably wear them with the sunflower hat. In fact, he wore them so much that the sneakers that became popular as Jordans ultimately came to be known by his name.

Why does Will Smith have an Air Jordans line dedicated to him?

While Michael Jordan did not cut him much slack when he called him to beg for the shoes, Smith definitely left a huge impression on him. So much so that years later, in 2018, when Will Smith celebrated his 50th birthday, the Air Jordan 5 was re-released to commemorate him.

This came much later after the shoe came to be known as ‘The Fresh Princes’ owing to how Smith sported them in the still popular theme song of his sitcom.

Did you know that Will Smith used to wear Air Jordans on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air? Let us know in the comments below.