Nike, known for its shoes and its swoosh, has Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods on its corporate team. Now it is lining up yet another sports legend: for $305 million, Nike is buying Converse, a century-old footwear company and maker of the celebrated Chuck Taylor All Star shoe.

The deal announced yesterday, for cash and debt, brings together one of the oldest names in athletic footwear with perhaps the world's best-known sports shoe brand. It also opens a chapter for the financially troubled Converse, which dominated the athletic footwear business for decades before stumbling into bankruptcy in the early 1990's. Converse even had trouble with some of its sports endorsers. After it signed Latrell Sprewell, the basketball star, he tried to choke his coach in practice. Converse dropped him.

Today, Converse is best known for its retro-style shoes, which have gained a big following recently among younger customers. Converse's athletic shoe will be the first to be marketed by Nike without bearing the Nike name.

''Converse is one of the strongest footwear brands in the world, with a great heritage and a long history of success,'' Tom Clarke, Nike's president for new business ventures, said in a statement. ''Converse management has done an excellent job of re-establishing this beloved brand with consumers and we look forward to supporting them as they continue to implement their growth strategy.''