The Untold Story of Michael Jordan’s forbidden shoes in the NBA

The promotional idea for the Air Jordan I was a paragraph video Extremely simple: A top-down shot of Michael Jordan in black / red shoes and ends with the Air Jordan logo. The message in the video is also very direct: “On September 15, Nike created a groundbreaking basketball shoe. On October 18, Nike banned the shoes to be worn during the match. Thankfully the NBA can’t ban you. Air Jordan. From Nike ”.

But in fact, the story of the NBA banned Air Jordan pair that most of you have heard is only half the truth. The really banned shoes are Nike Air Ships. The story would start from here.

The Nike Air Ship was launched in 1984, a pre-Jordan period when a shoe was just a shoe, nothing more and nothing less. As the follow-up to the Nike Air Force 1, the Air Ship was arguably Nike’s best basketball shoe at the time. Most of the Air Force 1’s design and technology is still present on the Air Ship, but Nike removed the neck band and added a piece of leather over the first three eyelets to reinforce the upper. Outsole has also been added details similar to the Air Jordan. If the Air Force 1 is a breakthrough basketball shoe

then the Air Ship simply affirms Nike’s direction is absolutely correct.

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Jordan in the Nike Air Ship while training in 1984. Photo: Getty

Instead, Jordan wore a pair of red / black Air Ships that Nike ordered separately. “It was a special occasion”, Peter Moore – director of creativity at Nike recalls, “They (Nike) put about 25 pairs just for him”. A similar situation in the present time would be enough to make up for some special edition. But at that moment, it didn’t bring any charisma either.

NBA letter to Nike prohibiting “a red and black Nike shoe worn by Michael Jordan on October 18, 1984”

Michael Jordan posed with Patrick Ewing for the Inside Sport cover in November 1985

The only match in which Jordan wore black / red shoes in his first year in the NBA?

In late April of last year, a pair of Jordan Air Ships auctioned for $ 71,000. The shoes were given up by a scavenger at the Lakers on December 2, 1984. It is known that Jordan gave him the shoes after the end of the match. This version of the Air Ship was modified to suit Michael and was very close to the subsequent Air Jordan.

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The shoe collar is cut low, only 2 laces are left instead of 3. The midsole is also thinner compared to the original, giving Jordan a better pitch feeling. It is known that the reason Michael Jordan prefers adidas shoes is also because Nike’s shoes are too thick for him. The Converse Pro Leathers that Jordan went to college with also had a similar design.

Vivid color schemes of Nike Air Force 1

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Until now, the fate of the first black and red Air Ships custom-made for Jordan remains a mystery. Those 25 are the shoes that are actually banned by the NBA and are the shoes that will be hunted the most with MJ’s tough fans.

So we can tell that the Air Jordan I was never banned by the NBA but what was banned was the “black / red” color scheme in the Air Ships. Nobody even knew if Nike was really punished for this or if it was just a word of mouth. It may all be a marketing ploy from Nike, but it is extremely effective when Nike has sold $ 70 million worth of Air Jordan three months after its launch (for a pair of $ 65, quite expensive at the time. that point).

Articles translated from Complex byEachshoes

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