While the Air Jordan 1 is the Nike basketball shoe that helped launch Michael Jordan’s sneaker empire, Jordan also wore a different shoe to start his NBA career.
Called the Nike Air Ship, the sneaker in the black and red colorway was the first Jordan “banned” shoe by the NBA, not the Air Jordan 1.
Now, a pair of original Nike Air Ships that were worn by MJ during the 1984-85 season are going up for auction. And while the pair isn’t in the famous red-black colorway, the shoes are believed to be the earliest pair of Michael Jordan NBA-worn shoes to ever go up for sale.
Khalid Ali, who was a ballboy for the Los Angeles Lakers for the 1984-85 season, has consigned the Nike shoes he says Jordan gave to him after the Chicago Bulls played the Lakers on Dec. 2, 1984, to SCP Auctions.
Ali, 15 at the time, distinctly remembers asking Jordan for the shoes on his feet during warmups. They were red, white and black, Ali said, a pair of what would become the first Air Jordans.
But Jordan told him he would be switching out for the game into what turned into a garden variety pair of white shoes with a red Nike swoosh.
“People obsess over game-worn Jordans and there’s definite value to the fact that these are the earliest ones that have surfaced,” said SCP Auctions vice president Dan Imler said.
It is estimated that the sneakers could fetch about $50,000. In 2013, a pair of shoes that Jordan wore for his rookie campaign sold for $31,070.
The Air Ship has a curious history within Jordan brand. While it is the sneaker that drew the NBA’s ire, with the mythos that surrounds the “Banned” Air Jordan 1, it’s easy to see why Jordan Brand doesn’t acknowledge the Air Ship that much (tellingly, the Air Ship has never been retroed).
Still, between an auction like this and Jordan Brand’s recent acknowledgement of the Air Ship’s rightful place in Jordan history, perhaps an Air Ship revival is due.
One small step for MJ. One giant leap for the game. pic.twitter.com/J3fwuCHZ8n
— Jordan (@Jumpman23) October 26, 2014
The auction for this pair of MJ-worn sneakers will start on April 8th and end on April 25th.
