Vintage Gear: Michael Jordan “Come Fly With Me” VHS Tape – 1989

Back when Michael Jordan was inching nearer to his first NBA title, when he and the Chicago Bulls kept losing to the Detroit Pistons, NBA Entertainment put together a sort of career summary to date of the young superstar entitled Come Fly With Me. This was 1989 – no Internet as we know it, no streaming, no DVD nor Blu-ray. If you wanted to watch Air Jordan highlights from your living room couch, you picked up a VHS cassette copy of the 45-minute-long highlight reel. The story takes you through MJ’s childhood in Wilmington, North Carolina and standout performance for the Emsley A. Laney High Buccaneers. Then it moves to the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where Jordan starred for head coach Dean Smith en route to his heralded 1985 NBA Rookie of the Year season with the Chicago Bulls and into his fledgling pro years.

The footage of a mid-twentysomething MJ swooping to the hoop is as fun to watch now as it was then, and strange because the story pauses with Jordan having only just over four seasons under his belt and a long way to go yet. He wasn’t an international star in 1989; that notoriety began to unfold around 1991-92 with the first title and Dream Team hoopla. This inaugural film spawned a series of Jordan highlight/biography videos: Michael Jordan’s Playground (1991), Michael Jordan: Air Time (1993), Michael Jordan: Above & Beyond (1996), and Michael Jordan: His Airness (1999). All five videos have been issued multiple times over the years, first in VHS and later in DVD format both individually and in sets. You can find original VHS copies all over eBay these days for dirt cheap if you’re looking to collect some off-beat MJ memorabilia. Check out what the old heads used to watch in these photos, and stay tuned for more Vintage Gear.

Source: blueskymovie