Michael Jordan wore those shoes in only one NBA game.....but what a game. It
was his last one playing for the Chicago Bulls and at the time it was
supposedly his last NBA game . The Nike Air Jordan XIV made the debut at Salt Lake City, Utah on
June 14th, 1998 in the game 6 of the 1998 NBA
Finals between the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz where Michael Jordan
scored his famous jumpshot over Bryon Russell to win the game and seal his 6th NBA title.
MJ debuted the shoes in June but the Nike Air Jordan XIV were oficially
released in October 31st, 1998 in White/Black-Varsity Red colourway and
it wasnt until March 27th, 1999 when Nike launched the shoes in the
famous “Last Shot” colourway that Jordan wore at Utah.
The shoes were inspired by the Ferrari F355F1 owned by Michael Jordan at
the time. Even the jumpman logo on the side of the shoes looks like the
famous Ferrari logo.
As usual with other Jordan Series the Nike Air Jordan XIV were released
in many colourways and retro models. For example since the original
release in 1999 the shoes in the “Last Shot” colourway have been
re-released again in 2005, 2011 and 2018.
The Nike Zoom Kobe I were the first signature shoes made by Nike for Kobe Bryant. After he left Adidas to sign with Nike he wore some Jordan PEs and Nike designed the Nike air Zoom Huarache 2k4 and 2k5 especially for him but those were oficially his first signature shoes with Nike.
Released in February 18th,2006 but weeks before a few lucky ones were able to bought a limited pre-release model via Nike.com. Kobe Bryant debuted the ahoes on december 25th, 2005 in a Christmas Game played in Miami against the Heat of his former teammate Shaquille O’Neal. The Nike Zoom Kobe I were the shoes worn by Kobe the night he scored 82 points against the Toronto Raptors on January 22nd, 2006. Also he wore those shoes in the 2006 NBA Playoffs when he hit the game-winning shot in overtime against the Phoenix Suns in Game 4 on April 30th, 2006.
Nike Zoom Kobe I Protro (2018)
In 2018 Nike
released the Zoom Kobe I Protro. Those retro shoes externally appeared
exactly the same as the original, but internally features modifications
with the latest technology to improve performance. The shoes had a great
impact and several NBA players like Demar DeRozan or Devin Booker wore
them in many colourways
The Nike Shox Supremacy was oficially released at March 1st, 2003 but some NBA players wore them since January. At the time it was the lightest
Shox-based basketball shoe and at $100 it was the least expensive Shox-based basketball shoe too. It was released in several team colourways and custom colorways via NikeID.
Those shoes were the last Nike model wore by Tim Duncan before he signed with Adidas around the 2003 NBA All Star Game. In fact he never wore the shoes in his home colourway because in 2003 the Spurs began what it was their first annual rodeo trip when AT&T Center first opened.
The second installment of the Tracy Mcgrady signature shoe was pretty similar to the T-Mac 1 with Torsion System and adiPrene cushioning providing ample support. Oficially they were released on November
1st, 2002 for the black/royal colourway and on December 13th, 2002 for white/royal colourway.Mcgrady already wore them on the court since the preseason of the 2002-2003 NBA Season.
For the 2003 NBA All Star Weekend Tracy McGrady debuted the new release of the shoes with the upper part made of a shiny, patent leather-like material. Adidas released them in USA colorways for the 2003 Tournament of the Americas where Tracy Mcgrady among other NBA Superstars played to qualify USA for the 2004 Summer Olympics. LeBron James had his own PE version during his last year at St. Vincent–St. Mary High School.
What could we say about the Nike Air Jordan? Surely we are talking about the most famous shoes of the history and about the greatest athlete of all-time. Nike and basketball sneakers are so popular now in a big part because of Michael Jordan and his shoes.
Lets talk something about the history of the Nike Air Jordan I. Back in 1984 Michael Jordan was drafted by the Chicago Bulls and he was ready to start his professional career. He wanted to sign a deal with Adidas because it was his favourite brand since his childhood but the german brand had a different opinion about his value and they didnt offer him a sponsorship so he ended up signing with Nike on October 10th, 1984.
As a part of his deal with Nike Michael Jordan was going to wear his own signature shoe, the Nike Air Jordan. However his signature model was not ready for the start of the 1984-85 so he wore a rare model called Nike Air Ship since the preseason. Those shoes in a black/red colourway were banned by the league because there was a rule according to that “A player must wear shoes that not only matched their uniforms, but matched the shoes worn by their teammates."
Michael Jordan was going to be fined by the league with $5000 per every game he played with the black/red sneakers but people at Nike were smart enough to see that as a big opportunity so they decided to pay the bill while convinced Jordan to wear them anyway.
Of course with all the hype around the banned shoes Nike launched a sucessful promotional campaign around the country. However instead of the Nike Air Ship that was the real banned model Nike utilized for the campaign the new Nike Air Jordan I in black/red colourway that erroneusly would past to the history and popular culture as the shoes banned by the NBA. This is one of the Nike ads from 1985.
On November 17th,1984 Michael Jordan debuted his signature shoes but in a white/red colourway matching the Chicago Bulls colours. Later that season he debuted the shoes in a white/black-red colourway popularly known as "Bred Toe" .It seems that he never played a single NBA game with the Air Jordans I in the banned colorway but after all...who cares?
The Nike Air Jordan I were oficially released in April 1st, 1985. Since then Nike had released the shoes in different colorways or heights. It was the first Nike model to be retroed in 1994. You can take a look to a very complete list here.
Those shoes were a
tuned and improved version of the Shox BB4. Released in fall 2002 at $125 the Nike Shox
Limitless improved comfort, cushioning feel, and court feel over the previous model. Many NBA players like Pau Gasol, Yao Ming, Shareff Abdur-Rahim; Lamar Odom, Tim Duncan, Elton Brand or Allan Houston wore them during the 2002-2003 NBA Season.
Originally released in 2004 those shoes were like a transition between the present and the past in terms of design and technology. They are considered one of the best basketball shoe designed by Nike.
Kobe Bryant debuted the Nike Air Zoom Huarache just a few days before the 2004 NBA All Star Game where the LA Edition make its appearance also worn by the Black Mamba and Dirk Nowitzki. During the March Madness many notables NCAA players wore them making its impact even bigger. The shoes were in the stores in March for $125 and those were one of the first model to be available to add personal messages and colorways via NIKEID.com.
Nike released many retro models since 2010 and if you add them to the personalized shoes via nikeid you can figure there are thousands of color combinations out there. In 2016 for the final All Star Game of his career Nike re-released the shoes worn by Kobe in the 2004 edition.
