Michael Jordan's banned sneakers

Around about 36 years on the sneakers that Michael Jordan wore in his first few games for the Chicago Bulls have been released. The ‘Air Ship pro’ has been released by an Italian retailer called Backdoor Bogetta on August 1st.

Jordan himself first wore the ‘Air ship pro’ for the beginning of the 1984-85 season before moving on to debut the Air Jordan 1. He was famously banned from using thus shoe as the colours did not meet the standards stated in the NBA rules at the time. When Michael Jordan ignored this demand made by the NBA to not wear the shoes, he was then fined $5000 for every game after that he did.

The shoe itself is a combination of an upper form a Nike Air Ship and a midsole that comes from a Nike Pro Circuit tennis shoe. Jordan said that the midsole from an original Air Ship sneaker was too heavy and too high to play basketball in for his liking.

36 years on the public had the opportunity to buy these shoes on two occasions. First via a general release on the Backdoor Bogetta website on August 1st and then via a raffle on August 3rd.