Michael Jordan remains the gold standard when it comes to the sneakers market. Despite retiring two decades ago, his sneakers remain the most prized commodities. From flooding the sneaker stores to being the highlight of major shoe conventions worldwide, his shoes are everywhere. Dennis Rodman, a key component during MJ’s second-three peat, went to a shoe convention by Got Sole and talked about the legendary Air Jordan 1.
Talking to the founder of Got Sole, Jonathan DiModica, Rodman picked up the red and white version of AJ1s. He remarked how the first pair of MJ’s game-worn shoes recently auctioned for $10 million.
This is a major revelation considering that there is no instance of a pair of shoes fetching even close to $10 million. The Worm turned his attention to the red and black color scheme of the sneakers.
DiModica pointed out that this pair was banned for violating the color scheme codes. The Worm gave a shout-out to his former teammate and told him that Got Sole has his sneakers too,
“I think a month ago, Jordan’s first pair of shoes that he wore, he sold for $ 10 million… Michael [Jordan] they got your sh** man… They got your stuff brotha.”
Unsurprisingly, conventions like these are graced with many MJ signature shoes. Sneakerheads with big bank accounts love landing Jordan’s game-worn shoes and have shocked the world with their expenditure. Sotheby’s, a major auction corporation, recently revealed that Jordan’s Dynasty Collection’ sold for $8 million.
It includes his game-worn shoes from the last games of the 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, and 1998 finals. Meanwhile, in 2023, his 1998 finals Game 2 shoes single-handedly fetched a record-breaking $2.28 million. Interestingly, there was a time when MJ’s shoes were seen as a problem by the NBA.
When the NBA allegedly fined Michael Jordan for wearing AJ 1s
Michael Jordan changed the money game in the NBA, by landing the first major shoe deal from Nike, and also changed the dress codes. During his 1984-85 rookie season, the NBA had a mandate about athletes wearing shoes that had a component of the white color scheme.
However, MJ wore black and red Nikes, violating the league’s dress code. NBA management reacted swiftly by rebuking Nike while fining MJ $5000 every time he wore those. Many felt that the Air Jordan 1s drew the ire of the league.
Contrarily, in a 2020 article, Complex claimed that it wasn’t AJ 1s that the NBA banned as there is no photo evidence. When they contacted Jordan collector Marvin Barias, he posited that the league might have banned Air Ship, Nike’s non-signature shoes. However, Michael Jordan has repeatedly recalled that the league banned his first signature shoes for violating the dress code.
While the validity of the story is still up in the air, it indicates that Jordan brought a huge paradigm shift in the league, which affects the league to this day.