How Michael Jordan Shattering the Board in Italy Led to an Iconic AJ 1 Shoe

Shaquille O’Neal’s name comes to mind when we think of broken backboards. However, Michael Jordan wasn’t a stranger to shattered glass as well, which shouldn’t be as surprising as it seems considering his elite athletic abilities early in his career. In 1985, a year after making his NBA debut, Jordan went to Trieste, Italy, for an exhibition game organized by Nike.

By then, the Jordan mania wasn’t as global as it later became, but the Bulls legend surely planted the seeds of his popularity in the exhibition game. Representing Stefanel Trieste in the game against the Juve Caserta, MJ dropped 30 points to show the world what he was capable of. However, the icing on the cake was his powerful dunk that shattered the backboard.

He dunked the ball over an opponent, completely shattering the glass backboard as can be seen in the clip below. Jordan was known for his unique free-throw line dunks. With a hang time that surprised physicists, he was able to pull off moves people had never seen before. In his black, orange, and white uniform, Jordan leaped for the dunk from near the free throw line.

 

OPTION 11: MJ SHATTERS BACKBOARD TRIESTE, ITALY

A dunk so disrespectful the opposing exhibition team’s coach switched to a 1-3-1 zone to prevent MJ from getting more looks like this one.

(Also peep those illustrious Shattered Backboard Jordan 1s) pic.twitter.com/50hE5LhTxZ

— The First Ballot Podcast (@FirstBallotPod) January 23, 2024

According to Jacob the Clipper on X, one of the opposition’s players “got a really bad cut on his wrist.” Thirty years went by. Jordan became the greatest basketball player on the planet, created a legacy that’s unlikely to be repeated, and became a billionaire. After all of that, Nike decided to honor MJ’s iconic dunk with a sneaker drop.

Inspired by the backboard-shattering dunk, Nike released Air Jordan 1 “Shattered Backboard” in 2015. The shoes carried the black, white, and orange colors as an ode to the jersey MJ wore in Italy. It went on sale for $160 and since there was a lot of hype around it, they were immediately sold out. After sensing an opportunity, the resellers took over the market.

The AJ 1s were soon being resold for over $1000, which gave Nike the opportunity to drop “Shattered Backboard 2.0”. The new drop was also listed at $160 by the company. There were a few more subsequent ‘Shattered Backboard’ drops from Nike.

Now, as a follow-up to the immense success and the upcoming 10^th Anniversary of the drop, Nike is set to release Air Jordan 1 High OG “Shattered Backboard” in the fall of 2025.