Bo Knows Basketball?

We all know the story. Bo Jackson took the NFL by storm as a running back for the L. A. Raiders in 1987 (He was actually the number 1 overall draft choice of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in ’86, but decided to play baseball and did not sign a contract with the Bucs allowing him to go back into the draft where the Raiders selected him in the 7th round of the ’87 Draft.

He also took MLB by storm in the 1989 MLB All-Star Game as he led the game off with a home run and won the MVP. You undoubtably also know that his career as a two sport star came to a tragic end via a hip injury he suffered during a playoff game against the Cincinnati Bungals, I mean Bengals (Thanks a lot Bengals, jerks!!!). What you may not know, is that Bo indeed does “Know Basketball”.

After the hip injury he suffered in the ’91 NFL Playoffs, Bo tried his hand at basketball by playing for a semi-pro team in the L.A area. This basketball experiment was of course short lived, and Bo eventually made his return to MLB with the Chicago White Sox in 1993. Jackson had a productive year hitting 16 home runs and batting in 45 RBI’s. He also won the Tony Conigliaro Award for coming back from hip replacement surgery that year. However, during the MLB strike of ’94, Jackson retired from professional sports for good. He certainly showed glimpses of greatness during his career, and one can only speculate to the level of greatness he might have achieved if he had remained healthy.

You all know I collect basketball cards, posters, books, kicks and more, but I also collect memorabilia from other sports, teams and players. Bo Jackson is one of my favorite athletes of all-time to watch old footage of as evident by all the “YouTube Videos” in this post. He was simply amazing. Without question, the best pure athlete I’ve ever seen. There’re a few items of his I’m always on the lookout for. Mainly, this 2008 UD Ultimate Legends Auto (click here), this 2008 UD Ultimate Dual Auto (click here) and of course, this Nike “The Ball Player” Poster featured in the post image, circa 1989.

“The Ball Player” Nike Bo Jackson poster is an iconic classic among sports enthusiasts and collectors alike. This was the start of the “Bo Knows” campaign that Nike marketed to sell Bo’s famous cross training kicks. Not only did those smooth and clever marketers from Nike come up with one hell of a poster, but they also created some fun TV commercials too.