Before becoming the general manager and vice president of basketball operations for the
Dallas Mavericks, Nico Harrison worked at Nike for 19 years. He supervised Nike's basketball brand managers and worked closely with Kobe Bryant since the Lakers guard signed with Nike in 2003. Of the Air Jordan 19 campaign, Harrison told ESPN, "I remember the snakes. I remember the [Tech Flex] technology. And I don't remember the ad." He said no one from Nike or Jordan Brand had ever mentioned it or the campaign to him or, to his knowledge, to Bryant.
Another source who worked closely with Bryant for many years said Bryant had no knowledge of the black mamba connection to Jordan.
ESPN
