A quick look at the iconic Jordan Air Ship

…and its latest iteration landing at SNS soon via SIGN UP in the SNS app in Europe. All remaining pairs will be available on www.sneakersnstuff.com

Brand Jordan Jordan Air Ship SP WHITE/UNIVERSITY GOLD-WHITE
Article number: Dx4976-107
Release Date: 1st of February
Price: 149 EURO¨

“On September 15th, Nike created a revolutionary new basketball shoe. On October 18th, the NBA threw them out of the game. Fortunately, the NBA can’t stop you from wearing them.”

While the famous Nike ad was indeed for introducing the Air Jordan 1, the shoe that the NBA banned was the Air Ship. But let’s rewind for a second. During Micheal Jordan’s rookie season, especially in his first weeks, MJ had a Nike deal inked but still needed to get a signature shoe. In those days, he played in the mysterious Air Ship, a high-top basketball sneaker that quickly became forgotten when Nike introduced the Air Jordan 1. The NBA saw a particular black and red pair as on-court rule-breaking, resulting in a ban for the model. While many thought it was the Air Jordan 1 that the NBA banned, the Air Ship created the buzz and kicked off Air Jordan history. Designed by Bruce Kilgore, the man behind the Nike Air Force 1, the Air Ship debuted in 1984 and had quite a few similarities to the arriving AJ1, including Michael Jordan’s name on it (at least on his own PEs = Player Exclusives). While many didn’t even know about the model’s existence, and even less after the introduction of the first Air Jordan 1, myth-like stories piled up about which shoes MJ wore during Pre-Season and first days in the NBA. In 2014 Nike finally cleared the “air” via Twitter; the rest is history.