Air Jordan
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50 free Air Jordan trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Few products have changed a sport's culture the way Michael Jordan's signature sneakers did. What began in 1984 as a risky bet on one rookie became a line with dozens of numbered models, each with its own design story, its own big game and its own fans. This quiz covers the shoes themselves, from the earliest models through the championship years and beyond: what inspired each design, who drew them, where the famous logo came from, and which pairs were on court for the moments everyone remembers. It also takes in the films, adverts, music and collaborations that turned basketball shoes into collector's items. It is written for sneaker collectors, basketball fans and anyone who has ever queued for a release. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so you can test yourself, settle an argument about which model is which, or print the questions for a group.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Michael Jordan's pose in the Jumpman logo copies a leap from which discipline, rather than one of his real dunks?
Ballet
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.
Q 02Which sneaker was worn for the 'Flu Game', a 38-point night against Utah in the 1997 NBA Finals?
Air Jordan 12
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.
Q 03Which 1989 film has Buggin' Out confront a Celtics fan who scuffs his brand-new Air Jordans on a Brooklyn street?
Do the Right Thing
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.
Q 04Which film director played Mars Blackmon, the New York Knicks fan in Nike's Air Jordan commercials of the late 1980s?
Spike Lee
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.
Q 05Which sneaker with a shiny patent leather mudguard was worn against the Monstars in the 1996 film Space Jam?
Air Jordan 11
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.
Q 06Which actor plays Nike talent scout Sonny Vaccaro in Air, the 2023 film about the company's pursuit of Michael Jordan?
Matt Damon
Matt Damon plays Vaccaro opposite Ben Affleck, who directed the film and cast himself as Nike co-founder Phil Knight.
Q 07The Air Jordan 13 has a paw-shaped sole and a heel hologram like a glowing eye, both modelled on which animal?
Black panther
The black panther echoed Michael Jordan's nickname, 'Black Cat', earned for the mix of strength and stealth that kept opponents guessing.
Q 08Which rival brand had Michael Jordan set his heart on before Nike signed him as a rookie in 1984?
Adidas
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.
Q 09Which cartoon character starred beside Michael Jordan in Nike's 1992 Super Bowl commercial, four years before Space Jam?
Bugs Bunny
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.
Q 10Which 1990s sitcom made the Air Jordan 5 a TV fixture, its lead actor wearing Grape and Metallic pairs on screen?
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
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.
Q 11Which former architect designed Air Jordans for more than a decade from 1988 and also created Nike's Air Max 1?
Tinker Hatfield
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.
Q 12Which Nike basketball shoe, released in 1988, became the first model to carry the Jumpman logo?
Air Jordan 3
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.
Q 13Which catchphrase did Mars Blackmon make famous in Nike's Air Jordan commercials?
It's gotta be da shoes
Q 21Which Nike creative director designed the original Air Jordan 1 of 1985 and also drew the Nike Dunk silhouette?
Peter Moore
Peter Moore left Nike in 1987 to start a firm with colleague Rob Strasser, and eventually swapped sportswear for printmaking.
Q 22Which sneaker, styled after MJ's Ferrari, was on court for 'the Last Shot' that won the 1998 NBA title?
Air Jordan 14
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.
Q 23Which sneaker did Chicago's number 23 wear in the 1991 NBA Finals, when the Bulls won their first championship?
Air Jordan 6
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.
Q 14Which Oscar winner plays Michael Jordan's mother Deloris in the 2023 film Air, a casting he suggested himself?
Viola Davis
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.
Q 15In the 1984 magazine photo that inspired the Jumpman logo, Michael Jordan was wearing which brand of shoes?
New Balance
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.
Q 16Which sneaker was worn for 'The Shot', the 1989 buzzer-beater that knocked the Cleveland Cavaliers out of the playoffs?
Air Jordan 4
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.
Q 17The Air Jordan 2 of 1986, trimmed in faux lizard skin, was originally manufactured in which European country?
Italy
Italy produced the first pairs, and the model became the first Air Jordan to leave the Nike swoosh off its upper.
Q 18Michael Jordan wore the Air Jordan 17 and 18 while playing for which NBA team after his second comeback?
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards were his final team, and the Air Jordan 18 arrived during his last NBA season in 2002–03.
Q 19Which Houston rapper put his 'Cactus Jack' label on Jordan Brand collaborations after first working with Nike in 2017?
Travis Scott
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.
Q 20In Air Jordan slang, 'Bred' names which colour pairing that the NBA objected to on Michael Jordan's early shoes?
Black and red
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.
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.
Q 24Which young star played the orphan who finds old sneakers marked 'MJ' in the 2002 basketball film Like Mike?
Lil' Bow Wow
Lil' Bow Wow played Calvin, who gains NBA-level skills after lightning strikes as he pulls the pair down from a power line.
Q 25In 2018, which European soccer club became the first to wear Jordan Brand's Jumpman logo on its match kit?
Paris Saint-Germain
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.
Q 26Which magazine ran the 1984 photo of Michael Jordan soaring toward a hoop that Nike later restaged for its Jumpman logo?
Life
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.
Q 27What did the original Air Jordan logo of 1985, used before the Jumpman, show on either side of a basketball?
Wings
Wings frame the ball in the original badge, which Jordan Brand revived three decades later on the Air Jordan 31 and 32.
Q 28Which word ends the Michael Jordan line printed on the Air Jordan 2010: 'I've failed over and over... that is why I'?
Succeed
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.
Q 29Which word does Jordan Brand add to the name of a re-released older model, as in the Air Jordan 2 reissues?
Retro
Retro marks a reissue; the first comeback came in 1994, when the original Air Jordan 1 returned to shops nine years after its debut.
Q 30Which Second World War fighter plane inspired the shark-tooth shapes on the midsole of the 1990 Air Jordan 5?
P-51 Mustang
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.