'You can change your life': Jordan chair on journey from teen murder to Nike

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – In his 2022 book, "Jump: My Secret Journey from the Streets to the Boardroom," Larry Miller reflects on his time spent in juvenile prison for a murder he committed as a teen to reaching the highest rungs of the corporate ladder in the Pacific Northwest.

The book, which made the New York Times' bestseller list, was co-written by Miller's daughter -- Laila Lacy who was inspired by her father's life story, Miller said.

“My oldest daughter, for years, worked on me and was like, ‘Dad, you have a story you should tell,'" Miller said.

For decades, Miller hid his criminal history, including gang affiliations in Philadelphia and serving more than four years in juvenile prison for fatally shooting another teen -- Edward White -- when he was 16 years old.

Miller said between the ages of 12 and 30, he was in and out of jail and was involved in “all kinds of criminal activities.”

“The last time I was incarcerated, I got involved in a program where you could actually take college classes inside the jail and then you could transfer to trailers that were outside the jail and go to school every day," Miller said.

He ended up getting an associate's degree then transferring to a halfway house and earning a bachelor's degree. Later, while working for Campbell's soup company, Miller said he earned a master's degree.

“The reason for telling the story is to show that people can change their lives,” Miller explained. “It starts inside of you, and if you have the right desire and the right opportunity to change, that you can change your life.”

In the book, Miller also describes an "emotional" meeting with White's sister, daughter and son, during which he says he apologized for White's murder.

Miller explained, “I started the meeting by sharing how sorry and how remorseful I am for what happened and what I did. Then each spoke about how it impacted them. But at the end, each one of them said, ‘I forgive you.’”

“To me, that was the most important thing that could have come out of this whole process, was the fact that I was able to express my sorrow to Mr. White’s family and to have them forgive me,” Miller said.

While hiding the secret during his career, Miller helped turn the Jordan brand into a marketing juggernaut at Nike before stepping down to serve as president of the Portland Trail Blazers from 2007 to 2012.

“I thought it was an opportunity for young people that look like me…in a role like President of the Portland Trail Blazers and maybe inspire some people and motivate some young people that they could accomplish something of that magnitude,” Miller said.

Later, Miller stepped down as the Trail Blazer's president and returned to Nike. While he says working with the Trail Blazers was “an amazing opportunity,” deciding to go back to Nike was an easy decision – saying the company asked him to run the Jordan brand again.

During his career, Miller says he's most proud of the impact the companies have made on the community -- including the Jordan brand's scholarship.

“A lot of the time, people think it’s generating revenue, growing the brand, but it’s really the opportunities that my jobs have given me to give back to our community,” Miller said. "To see that we can actually impact and change lives, that’s the thing that I’m really proud of.”

Miller also noted the importance of political connections within the community for Fortune 500 companies such as Nike, as Phil Knight made donations to Oregon's 2022 gubernatorial race.

“It is important for companies like Nike to be involved and to be aware of what’s going on with the political situation because I think…from Nike’s involvement and wanting to help and give back to the community, politics plays a part of that," Miller said.

"One of the things I do believe is that Nike has tended to be on the right side of most issues that have come up from a political perspective,” Miller said. “I think that’s because we built a company that gets good guidance and direction from the folks who work specifically on the political issues.”