50 Fun Facts About Air Jordan

Michael Jordan's pose in the Jumpman logo copies a leap from which discipline, rather than one of his real dunks?

Ballet supplied the shape: the pose is a grand jeté, which Jordan first struck for a 1984 photo shoot. Nike later had him repeat it in Chicago wearing his Bulls uniform.

Which sneaker was worn for the 'Flu Game', a 38-point night against Utah in the 1997 NBA Finals?

The Air Jordan 12 carried Michael Jordan through 44 minutes while he was ill, probably from a pizza ordered the night before. Chicago won 90–88.

Which 1989 film has Buggin' Out confront a Celtics fan who scuffs his brand-new Air Jordans on a Brooklyn street?

Do the Right Thing made a scuffed sneaker a plot point, and Jordan Brand later made a pre-scuffed pair to match the ones Giancarlo Esposito's character wore.

Which film director played Mars Blackmon, the New York Knicks fan in Nike's Air Jordan commercials of the late 1980s?

Spike Lee created Mars Blackmon for his 1986 film She's Gotta Have It, and thought Nike's offer to appear beside Michael Jordan was a prank by his friends.

Which sneaker with a shiny patent leather mudguard was worn against the Monstars in the 1996 film Space Jam?

The Air Jordan 11 seen in the film did not reach shops until 2000, when the pair was nicknamed the 'Space Jam'. Its glossy finish led some owners to wear it with suits.

Which actor plays Nike talent scout Sonny Vaccaro in Air, the 2023 film about the company's pursuit of Michael Jordan?

Matt Damon plays Vaccaro opposite Ben Affleck, who directed the film and cast himself as Nike co-founder Phil Knight.

The Air Jordan 13 has a paw-shaped sole and a heel hologram like a glowing eye, both modelled on which animal?

The black panther echoed Michael Jordan's nickname, 'Black Cat', earned for the mix of strength and stealth that kept opponents guessing.

Which rival brand had Michael Jordan set his heart on before Nike signed him as a rookie in 1984?

Adidas was the brand Jordan had his eye on until Nike scout Sonny Vaccaro convinced his bosses to sign him. Nike's lure was a signature shoe line of his own.

Which cartoon character starred beside Michael Jordan in Nike's 1992 Super Bowl commercial, four years before Space Jam?

Bugs Bunny and Jordan outwitted a team of bullies in the ad, and its success led Jordan's agent to pitch the film that became Space Jam.

Which 1990s sitcom made the Air Jordan 5 a TV fixture, its lead actor wearing Grape and Metallic pairs on screen?

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air had Will Smith in the shoe from its pilot episode, and Jordan Brand answered with 'Bel-Air' editions of the model in 2013 and 2020.

Which former architect designed Air Jordans for more than a decade from 1988 and also created Nike's Air Max 1?

Tinker Hatfield placed sixth in the pole vault at the 1976 US Olympic trials, joined Nike in 1981 and only began designing shoes four years later.

Which Nike basketball shoe, released in 1988, became the first model to carry the Jumpman logo?

The Air Jordan 3 is the shoe Nike co-founder Phil Knight credits with saving the company, because it persuaded Michael Jordan not to leave for a rival.

Which catchphrase did Mars Blackmon make famous in Nike's Air Jordan commercials?

It's gotta be da shoes became the character's calling card, and Jordan Brand later named a sneaker line, the Jordan Mars, in his honour.

Which Oscar winner plays Michael Jordan's mother Deloris in the 2023 film Air, a casting he suggested himself?

Viola Davis got the part after Jordan told director Ben Affleck she was the one to play his mother. In the film, Deloris insists her son earn a cut of every pair sold.

In the 1984 magazine photo that inspired the Jumpman logo, Michael Jordan was wearing which brand of shoes?

New Balance shoes were on his feet because the picture was taken before any Air Jordan existed. Nike restaged the leap with its own sneakers for the famous silhouette.

Which sneaker was worn for 'The Shot', the 1989 buzzer-beater that knocked the Cleveland Cavaliers out of the playoffs?

The Air Jordan 4 was the first model in the line sold worldwide, and in 2012 it came out in a 'Cavs' colourway that recalled the moment.

The Air Jordan 2 of 1986, trimmed in faux lizard skin, was originally manufactured in which European country?

Italy produced the first pairs, and the model became the first Air Jordan to leave the Nike swoosh off its upper.

Michael Jordan wore the Air Jordan 17 and 18 while playing for which NBA team after his second comeback?

The Washington Wizards were his final team, and the Air Jordan 18 arrived during his last NBA season in 2002–03.

Which Houston rapper put his 'Cactus Jack' label on Jordan Brand collaborations after first working with Nike in 2017?

Travis Scott later fronted a McDonald's meal, the chain's first celebrity tie-in since the 'McJordan' burger it sold with Michael Jordan in 1992.

In Air Jordan slang, 'Bred' names which colour pairing that the NBA objected to on Michael Jordan's early shoes?

Black and red broke an NBA rule that shoes be mostly white, so Nike offered to cover any fines and built its 'Banned' advert around the fuss.

Which Nike creative director designed the original Air Jordan 1 of 1985 and also drew the Nike Dunk silhouette?

Peter Moore left Nike in 1987 to start a firm with colleague Rob Strasser, and eventually swapped sportswear for printmaking.

Which sneaker, styled after MJ's Ferrari, was on court for 'the Last Shot' that won the 1998 NBA title?

The Air Jordan 14 was only a prototype then: its designer had asked Michael Jordan not to wear it yet, but he liked the pair too much to wait.

Which sneaker did Chicago's number 23 wear in the 1991 NBA Finals, when the Bulls won their first championship?

The Air Jordan 6 was inspired by Michael Jordan's own German sports car and came with a neoprene sleeve and a see-through rubber sole.

Which young star played the orphan who finds old sneakers marked 'MJ' in the 2002 basketball film Like Mike?

Lil' Bow Wow played Calvin, who gains NBA-level skills after lightning strikes as he pulls the pair down from a power line.

In 2018, which European soccer club became the first to wear Jordan Brand's Jumpman logo on its match kit?

Paris Saint-Germain carried the Jumpman on third kits made for the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League, the basketball brand's first step into the sport.

Which magazine ran the 1984 photo of Michael Jordan soaring toward a hoop that Nike later restaged for its Jumpman logo?

Life had the picture taken on Jordan's college campus in North Carolina ahead of the 1984 Olympics. Its photographer sued Nike over the logo in 2015 and lost.

What did the original Air Jordan logo of 1985, used before the Jumpman, show on either side of a basketball?

Wings frame the ball in the original badge, which Jordan Brand revived three decades later on the Air Jordan 31 and 32.

Which word ends the Michael Jordan line printed on the Air Jordan 2010: 'I've failed over and over... that is why I'?

Succeed closes a 1997 commercial in which he recites his own failures, and the full line is moulded into the midsoles of the anniversary shoe.

Which word does Jordan Brand add to the name of a re-released older model, as in the Air Jordan 2 reissues?

Retro marks a reissue; the first comeback came in 1994, when the original Air Jordan 1 returned to shops nine years after its debut.

Which Second World War fighter plane inspired the shark-tooth shapes on the midsole of the 1990 Air Jordan 5?

The P-51 Mustang came to mind because the designer likened Michael Jordan's biting style of play to an American fighter on the attack.

Which actor wore the Air Jordan 13 as Jake Shuttlesworth, a prisoner out on parole, in the film He Got Game?

Denzel Washington filmed in the pair months before it went on sale, playing opposite NBA guard Ray Allen as his son.

The Air Jordan 19, the first model after Michael Jordan's final retirement, was designed to evoke which venomous snake?

The black mamba look came from a braided sleeve over the upper, a material normally used to stop PVC pipes from bursting.

The Air Jordan 17, sold in a metal briefcase and decorated with music notes, was inspired by which genre?

Jazz and its improvisation reminded the designer of Michael Jordan inventing moves in mid-air, and at $200 the pair was the priciest Air Jordan yet.

Designers gave the Air Jordan 15 a detail that copies which famous on-court habit of Michael Jordan?

Sticking out his tongue was Jordan's habit whenever he attacked the basket, so the shoe's own tongue juts forward. The rest was styled after the X-15 aircraft.

The Air Jordan 10 was on court for the 'double nickel', a 55-point night in March 1995 at which famous arena?

Madison Square Garden saw the feat early in his comeback from baseball, while he was wearing the number 45 instead of his usual 23.

Michael Jordan wore an Air Jordan 7 marked with a 9 instead of 23 at the 1992 Olympic Games in which city?

Barcelona hosted the Dream Team, the first US Olympic squad to field active NBA players, and 9 was his jersey number there.

Which college football team became the first to be outfitted by Jordan Brand, in 2016?

Michigan led the way, and the football programmes of North Carolina, Oklahoma, Florida and UCLA later joined the Jumpman's roster.

Which NBA commissioner, in his first year in the job, outlawed the colourful Nike shoes Michael Jordan wore as a rookie?

David Stern's league wanted footwear to be mostly white, and the rule he enforced against the rookie stayed on the books until the late 2000s.

The Air Jordan 33 of 2018 was the first numbered model in the line to do without which standard feature?

Laces vanished on a model released on October 18, the date Nike's old 'Banned' advert says the NBA threw the first shoe out of the game.

Which pastime of Michael Jordan's inspired the Air Jordan 20 of 2005 and its strap across the midfoot?

Motorbike racing had become his passion after basketball, and a 2007 two-shoe pack called 'Old Love New Love' set the two pursuits side by side.

Which Nike model, worn by Michael Jordan before his signature shoe was ready, was the pair the NBA actually outlawed?

The Air Ship was the prototype for his signature line, yet Nike's 'Banned' advert let the Air Jordan 1 take the credit for breaking the rules.

Nike's 1984 pitch to Michael Jordan was a highlight reel set to 'Jump (For My Love)' by which group?

The Pointer Sisters' hit soundtracked the reel, and when Jordan criticised the colours of the first shoe design, Nike took his complaint on board.

Which Nike fit technology, built around a snug inner sock sleeve, did the Air Jordan 7 bring to the line in 1992?

Huarache lining hugged the foot like a sock, and the same model became the first Air Jordan with no visible Nike branding on its outside.

Which sneaker, issued while MJ was away playing baseball, does his statue wear at Chicago's United Center?

The Air Jordan 9 came out during his first retirement, so he never wore it in an NBA season. Its sole carries words in several languages.

Fined over his sneakers in the 1995 playoffs, Michael Jordan played a game in which Orlando rival's signature shoes?

Penny Hardaway's black Nike Air Flight filled in for Game 3 while Nike made Jordan a darker pair to match his team-mates' footwear.

In 2020, Michael Jordan won a court ruling in which country against a sportswear firm trading on his translated name?

China's top court sided with him after an eight-year fight with Qiaodan Sports, whose name is the Mandarin rendering of 'Jordan'.

Which Off-White founder reworked the Air Jordan 1 for 'The Ten', his 2017 collection of redesigned Nike classics?

Virgil Abloh's take on the shoe was named Shoe of the Year for 2017, months before Louis Vuitton hired him to lead its menswear.

Which Duke star and first pick of the 2019 NBA draft signed a shoe deal with Jordan Brand that summer?

Zion Williamson's deal was worth a reported $75 million and was signed a month after the New Orleans Pelicans drafted him.

Which basketball manga puts its hero Hanamichi Sakuragi in Air Jordans, a link honoured with special pairs in 2014?

Slam Dunk put real sneakers on its characters' feet, and in 2014 Nike returned the compliment with pairs carrying artwork from the series.

Which hybrid Jordan Brand sneaker, launched in 2008, stitches together parts of seven different numbered Air Jordans?

The Six Rings shoe blends the models Michael Jordan wore in his title-winning seasons, and special colourways honour the teams the Bulls beat in those Finals.