Spike Lee Opens Up About Copping Super Rare Pair of Air Jordans for Denzel Washington Even Before Michael Jordan Debuted Them

As a director-actor for Nike since the late 1980s, Spike Lee used his influence to haul in an exclusive pair of Air Jordan 13s for the 1998 movie He Got Game. That’s the rumor Lee addressed recently while “Sneaker Shopping” with Complex’s Joe La Puma. The celebrated director talked about how he had one of the two exclusive pairs of Air Jordan 13s back in the day.

The discussion was triggered when La Puma asked the legendary director about having a pair of 13s featured in his 1998 movie even before Michael Jordan got a pair for himself. Lee admitted that he indeed had those shoes before they were debuted. The director wanted them for a scene in the movie after Denzel Washington’s Jake Shuttlesworth character gets out of jail and buys shoes for his estranged son.

The shoes shown on the screen during his purchase are the Air Jordan 13s, which weren’t even on the market at the time of the movie’s filming process. Alluding to this fact, La Puma kept pestering him about how the veteran filmmaker was able to land the pair.

“I got it like that…A call was made, I need a pair for Denzel Washington,” Lee told the host.

The creator of “Sneaker Shopping” pressed on about who the Knicks diehard called to get the pair. Was it Michael Jordan or Nike’s upper management? But Lee wasn’t able to remember who he called to get the pair of shoes.

“I really can’t remember but the call was made, and we get them joints,” added Spike Lee.

The Complex’s content strategy vice-president then highlighted how the movie featured one of the two pairs of Air Jordan 13s available at the time. Spike Lee confirmed that he owned the only two pairs available in the world at the time. Regardless of whom Lee called to get such a rare piece of history, he certainly holds a lot of sway in Nike.

Nike customized Air Jordans for Spike Lee

During the 2019 Academy Awards, Spike Lee wore a pair of golden shoes. These shoes were gold-painted Air Jordan 3s specifically made for the director and his inner circle. The shoes had the logo of Lee’s 1979-founded production company 40 Acres and Mule Filmworks. The names of Nike designer Tinker Hartfield and Spike Lee were also embroidered into the pair.  In 2023, The Guardian’s Maya Yang wrote a piece about a pair of the shoes auctioning off for $50,000.

 A charity called Portland Rescue Mission had found the shoes in the donation box and upon verification, found out that they were indeed one of the customized pairs for the director. The Portland Rescue Mission sent the shoes for an auction. Expected to fetch $10,000-$15,000, the highest bid went far ahead to $50,0008. The money was donated to the charity that found the pair.