Not only that, but also organizational members, workers, and players sponsored by Nike felt a great sense of identity with the brand. What makes organizational members with Nike unique is that Nike has managed to capture the true essence of athletics and extends the idea of being on a team into that of being a member of the Nike team. It is an innate desire to want to be a part of something grand, something impactful and exciting. For most, the concept of a team is stripped from their vocabulary upon leaving high school or college sports. At Nike, members highly identify with that and desire that sense of belonging; their attitudes gravitate toward it and they buy into the concept and reality of that. On top of it all, Nike is a winning team whose very name is Greek for the word victory. Many of the athletes that are endorsed by Nike have a winning reputation and a passion for their sport. It aligns well with Nike without reshaping their own value system. One Nike executive went on record to say that "Michael Jordan holds us to our values", Nike desires to enhance people's lives through sports and fitness (Katz 1994, 25). Knight has been intertwined with the brand of Nike. He is only a pair of wedding rings away from a beautiful marriage. Sacrifice, genuine love, and endless passion towards this brand is displayed in an almost human like form from Knight. One exaggerated comparison was made that some employees within Nike do not have platelets in their blood but instead have little Swooshes (Katz 1994, 87). Multiple times it was almost jokingly stated how integrated organizational members were with Nike, the logo, the concept, and the slogans. People become what they think about. The longer someone thinks about something the more likely they are to associate with that object or identity. Because of the intensity of the importance of brand integration into employees, executives, and athletes lives it becomes a large part of how they associate themselves.
