Although it may not be said publicly, there are many young players in the NBA who would jump at the chance to be a part of the Jordan Brand. While this accomplishment is far-fetched for many players, a handful of athletes are picked by Jordan himself to represent one of the biggest and most successful brands ever. With that said, we caught up with Charlotte Bobcats point guard D.J. Augustin, one of the youngest NBA players on Jordan Brand now. In this interview, Augustin shares with us a plethora of secret perks one gets for being a part of the Jordan Brand team and also tells us the process by which shoes he and the other JB members are allowed to wear on the hardwood. Click here to view this in-depth interview in its entirety.

D.J. Augustin attacking the rim in the Jordan 6 Rings “Flint”

Nice Kicks: First off, tell me how your signing with Jordan Brand came about.

D.J. Augustin: Well, you know Michael Jordan, at this point, is the co-owner of our team. He owns a certain amount of our team, and when I was in summer league before my rookie season, I was trying to decide which brand I was going to sign with out of Adidas and K1X. At that time, I didn’t even know that Jordan wanted to sign me. I played pretty good in the summer league and my agent and I were going back and forth trying to decide who I was going to sign with. One day, my agent called and said Michael Jordan wanted me on the Jordan Brand team. I couldn’t pass that up no matter how much money the others were offering.

Nice Kicks: Well, seeing that he personally wanted to sign you, do you have a personal relationship with him?

D.J. Augustin: Yeah, because it is only a certain amount of us that are with Jordan. He doesn’t just go out and get a bunch of guys, so it was special for him to pick me. He only picks a select few of players such as Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Joe Johnson, Mike Bibby, me, Kevin Martin, Rip Hamilton to name a few. It’s a small group of dudes, so we all have a certain relationship with him and we’re all close. He’s a cool dude and he’s just like one of us.

“One day, my agent called and said Michael Jordan wanted me on the Jordan Brand team. I couldn’t pass that up no matter how much money the others were offering.” – D.J Augustin

Nice Kicks: You say he’s just like one of the players. Last year, a photo surfaced of Michael Jordan practicing with the team. What do MJ usually wear when practicing with the Charlotte Bobcats?

D.J. Augustin: One time, when he was out there shooting with us, he had on the Air Jordan 11 “Space Jams”.? Another time, he had on the Air Jordan 3 “Black Cat”. One day he had on a pair of Jordan PHLY Legends; you know his nickname is “Black Cat”, so he had “Black Cat” imprinted on the side of his PHLY Legends. He wears those a lot. Jordan comes to a lot of our practices but this year he didn’t as much. He was talking and joking with us when shooting around sometimes, but this past year he was more serious with us because it was more pressure on us to win.

Michael Jordan posting Raymond Felton up in the Jordan PHLY

Nice Kicks: Has Michael Jordan ever hinted at making the entire Charlotte Bobcats roster a Jordan sponsored team? Maybe recruiting some of your other teammates to jolt to Jordan Brand?

D.J. Augustin: No, he never really mentioned that. I don’t think he would since a lot of guys are with different shoe companies. For example, Raymond Felton is with Adidas, Raja Bell is with Nike, Boris Diaw is with Nike. We have a lot of guys that are with different companies, so I don’t think he would do that since guys are in their contracts.

Nice Kicks: Since your signing, we know Michael Jordan has slid you a couple of classic Jordan sneakers under the table, right?

D.J. Augustin: (Laughs) No, because sometimes I get shoes that don’t even come out until two months from now. I have to hide those and keep them away from my homeboys. They’ll try to steal them. So, being a part of the brand means I get a lot of exclusive shoes that don’t come out until later on; some that never come out at all. That’s a real nice perk we have, so it’s no need for Jordan to personally give us exclusives.

To read page 2 of the interview click here.