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MJ had plenty of not so flattering off-court "activities" too (getting blasted for gambling excessively, loosing bets/writing checks to well-known convicted criminals, cheating on and subsequently getting divorced from his wife, etc.), but it didn't hamper his popularity and commercial appeal. It doesn't have as much to do with player conduct off the court, as most people expect that out of celebrities. I think the bigger problem with today's superstars is they are trying to follow up an era that saw phenomenal marketing strategy timed perfectly with the the golden age of the NBA featuring the greatest player of all time. It will be next to impossible to replicate those settings again with another era/player. NBA ratings dropped by more than 40% 10 years after MJ retired. Therefore, even if today's athletes are just as popular as MJ comparatively speaking, the number of people who follow or care about basketball just isn't big enough for it to have the same impact on society as it used to.
Chevy was "engraved" in the American fabric at one time, too. No one ever dreamed the day would come where not only were they not #1, but they would go under (if not for the bailout). It is indeed a fad, and it is already fading a bit. When Air Jordans were at the height of their popularity, everyone and their mother (literally) wore them. Average people who didn't know or care about basketball bought them regardless of demographics. Christ, suburbanites in their 30s and 40s wore them casually. It was just the cool thing to do at the time. You don't see that nearly as much anymore. While the concept of "wearing sneakers is acceptable for going out" is still alive and well, it no longer HAS to be Air Jordans, or even Nikes for that matter, nor is it as common to see people from every demographic sporting them. That in itself is a decline from the AJ fad. Now the much smaller, much more specific demographic that's still into "anything with a Jumpman logo" is closer to a cult following than the widespread norm it used to be.
Let's also not forget this whole "retro" thing is currently a fad in American society, too. From iconic cars being designed to look like their ancestors, to Guns N' Roses and Poison t-shirts from the '80s, to furniture featuring an "updated flare" to something you would have found in your grandparents' house, to our beloved original Air Jordans being reissued, the "old is the new new" obsession is in full swing. Again, this too will fizzle out eventually, which will chip away a bit more from the JB empire. No one is going to be interested in retros of the new things from our current era (thus why people want retros to begin with today), and there's only so long you can rehash the same things over and over again before society reaches the inevitable "OK, I'm over this. Move on" point.
As for performance.....the only shoes JB has with performance built into them are their newest models, and no one cares about those. They sit on shelves till they rot, then they make their ways into outlet stores where they drop to embarrassingly low prices. And even THEN, they sit. Besides, even if they performed AND looked good, Air Jordans just aren't the same holy grail to basketball players like they used to be in the '90s. Those sales alone wouldn't keep JB anywhere NEAR afloat. The retros are what's saving them right now. Increased price tags on products with lowered quality that sell really well. WHEN the retro fad eventually cools off, things will be very different for JB. The only real unknown is how long the fad will go. As I said, some last longer than others.
