Michael Jordan has had 36 models of sneakers come out – he’s played in 15 of them.
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When Jordan signed on with Nike in 1984, they knew they had a marketing juggernaut on their hands. His first shoe: the Air Jordan one had one of the best storylines made for a shoe. Never were they so happy to pay hefty fines, since they were getting people in droves to purchase a model popularized by one of the best rookie athletes to come out since Magic Johnson.
But like all of us, even his Airness has his preference when it comes to his sneakers. He leaves out the fabled Jordan 1 model, and picks the ones he enjoyed success in – he picked the treble-winning trio of the 11, 12, and 13. He also picked the 3 because it has a special story associated with it.
While today the executives at Nike have no qualms about pumping out hoards of new colors on one particular model, it wasn’t the case back then. People wore their sneakers, and each purchase meant a lot to them – not like the resale culture of today which has driven the market of these basic essential commodities through the roof.
Michael Jordan almost left Nike to go to Adidas – the sneaker world thanks him for not doing so
To think that in some alternate universe, Jordans would have been manufactured by Adidas is plain wrong. People are so accustomed to seeing the “swoosh” on the sides that anything else apart from that cannot be imagined. But when Nike made him the Jordan 2 model, he seriously considered leaving. He hated them so bad that he considered ripping up his contract and jumping ship.
That’s why when a question like this comes up, Jordan 2 never cuts it. They were clunky, chunky, and forgettable. Only until Tinker Hatfield stepped in to make him a personally designed pair of Air Jordan 3’s did Michael have a change of heart. That started a 3-decade long craze in people who wanted a piece of memorabilia associated with the Greatest Chicago Bull.
Jordan and his sneaker brand have evolved from becoming an athlete-focused brand to athleisure – People now wear them casually and view them as collector items rather than wearing them for their intended purpose. While the newer models still scratch that itch, the Originals are not meant to be played in anymore.
