Air Jordan fans celebrate 40 years of the shoes that inspired sneakerhead culture
The memories are stitched tight. Small details lace through their recollections — proof that those telling the tales are re-living the moment instead of just remembering it.
It seems as if no one forgets their first Air Jordan sneakers.
Alex Rojas recalled waiting in line with his little brother, giddy in the knowledge that he wasn’t going to be made fun of at school for his knock-off sneakers anymore. Mike Murphy’s dad took him a year after the original 1985 release; going to class the next day, “you felt like the man.”
Omar Kingwood was a senior in high school when he got his first pair, and he paid for them with money he earned working at KFC. Calie Rodriguez spent chunks of his adolescence homeless, and the fresh kicks were a fresh start. “It was kind of like, ‘Oh, that girl [you always had a crush on] said yes,' and we’re going on a date,” he said. “It’s like that girl you always wanted.”
Above all, it felt like being like Mike.
April 1 marks the 40th anniversary of the first Air Jordans — a collaboration between Michael Jordan and Nike that transcended the leather, suede and foam that make up the whole. The shoe, with its dozens of iterations over the years, often is credited with popularizing “sneakerhead” culture and all that it entails.
The first Air Jordans retailed for $65, and those same pairs, considered rare collector’s items, now can go for tens of thousands of dollars — if you can find them. As of March 10, StockX, an online sneaker e-tailer, had three pairs available, ranging from $35,359 to $81,374, depending on the size. Those prices are in line with how much authenticated shoes are going for on eBay.
The Air Jordans are a shoe, yes, but they’re also a signifier, a unifier and an idea, said Thilo Kunkel, professor at Temple University’s School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management. And pivotally, the originals, like their namesake, demanded attention, thanks to their iconic (and forbidden) red-and-black Chicago Bulls color scheme, known as a colorway.
“Color was forbidden [by the NBA], and Nike decided we're going to do it anyway, and we will have color, and we're going to pay the fine every time he plays in those colorful sneakers,” Kunkel said.
“That was part of that rebellious statement that they were making and that people now were able to make by wearing these shoes," he added. "It’s the signal that I'm part of a specific community, a community of sneakerheads, part of a community of people who care about certain elements of the NBA 20, 30 years ago as well as people who honor that legacy.”
Jordans had a cultural impact that extended itself to cinema — particularly director Spike Lee’s Mars Blackmon character in the 1986 movie “She’s Gotta Have It,” who loves the shoes. Lee subsequently played the Blackmon character alongside Jordan in various Air Jordan commercials — the most iconic of which involves Blackmon asking Jordan what makes him “the best player in the universe.”
“Is it the vicious dunks?”
“No, Mars," Jordan replies.
“Is it the haircut?”
“No, Mars.”
“Is it the shoes?”
“No, Mars.”
The two go on in a similar vein until Blackmon insists, “It’s gotta be the shoes!”
The original shoe spoke to Jordan’s immense confidence and Nike’s belief that he could live up to the hype.
Jordan was a prodigy out of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his deal with Nike — five years for $2.5 million plus royalties — became official the day of his NBA debut. Never mind that the shoe was less than 51% white, which violated league standards and wearing them incurred a fine of $5,000 per game that Nike agreed to pay.
The ad slogan that year was powerful in its simplicity and elicited a sense of camaraderie by way of unified defiance.
“Banned.”
It was a brilliant marketing move.
“He wasn't supposed to wear the shoes,” said Murphy, 52, a sneaker collector from Ronkonkoma who has an estimated 400-piece collection, about 250 under the Jordan brand. “It was like a whole big thing, and everybody wanted to see what he was going to wear next, and everybody just wanted to be him.”
When Murphy was about 13, his father bought him his first pair of Air Jordans — the second drop, released in 1986. Though he didn’t start collecting seriously until 2020, the love affair lived on through the years.
“I just bought two pairs in two days,” he said. “You’re getting the things from your childhood, and then the people who missed out [the first time around], they’re falling in love with them.”
In addition to new versions of the shoe every year, Nike also has released replicas of older models. The anniversary, and the shoes being released to celebrate it, has created a renewed interest in Jordans, said Ronkonkoma's John Hayden, owner of LISCO NY, a sneaker e-tailer which also has a private showroom in Islandia.
The Jordan market became oversaturated in past years, inhibiting their resale value, but the bear recently has turned bullish, he said.
“Especially this year, it’s going to be a very good year for Jordans,” he said while showing at the Sneaker Xchange, a buy, sell and trade show that pops up a few times a year at the Huntington Hilton (the next one is tentatively slated for May). “They’re once again coming out with a lot of the original colorways. They’ve done two pairs so far this year and they’ve sold out instantly and they’re going for double the retail.”
It's a blustery day in early March, but the Grand Ballroom at the Hilton on Broadhollow Road is buzzing with activity. Some use small trolleys to drag their hauls through the crowded aisles between tables, others brandish wads of $100 bills, and others still carefully position (and reposition . . . and reposition) their prized pieces.
There are sneakers everywhere, but Jordans reign supreme.
“You’re talking about a man who’s a legend — a legendary man, somebody who’s an innovator, somebody who did so much for the culture just by being a great athlete,” said Rodriguez, who got his first pair of Jordans, the 12s, when he was about 17. “It’s iconic in that way, and if you look at history, you see that Jordans are always relevant. They never really fell off.”
Rodriguez, 36, of Newport, Rhode Island, credits the Air Jordans with helping to turn his life around.
“I had a hard upbringing . . . and I was homeless a lot of my teenage years until I became an entrepreneur,” selling sneakers and starting a rental car business, he said. “First I was doing the wrong things, and then I started doing the right things and got put on to selling shoes by my cousin. It was really profitable.”
Jordans also further highlight Black excellence, said Kingwood, a Bronx-born sneaker collector who runs the Get Money Kicks Sneaker Show.
“It basically started a movement that initially [was about someone] who looked like us that was starting the [sneaker] game,” Kingwood said. “With Jordan being as good as he was and having sneakers that we can relate to . . . [a Black man] has a sneaker out there and we just kept buying it and buying it.”
There are dozens of Air Jordan releases slated for this year, including numerous retro throwbacks.
“We’re back — as of 2025 right now, as of March 2, the sneaker game is back,” said Rojas, who buys, sells and trades under BoyKryKickz LLC. Added Kingwood: “It pumped some life back into it. It needed it. They’re releasing [shoes] in abundance.”
And there’s something about Jordans that will always feel special, said Griffen Schimmel, from Long Beach.
“I love every second of it. I love being able to display my love for not just Jordans but the man himself,” Schimmel said. “It’s kind of like Pokemon — you gotta catch 'em all. One color comes and you’re like, oh, I don’t have that, and it matches with this outfit . . . I buy them and I flip them here and there and it’s all for fun. It’s a community. It’s a great diverse community of people that just want to bond over one thing.”
Schimmel flips sneakers under LBNY Supreme, and though he’s only 21, it’s not uncommon for sellers to start young. Andrew Benedetto, who runs the Sneaker Xchange, started doing small shows when he was 15. It’s now grown so much that a few years ago, he brought on a partner in Mike Capobianco of Locust Valley to help run the five or six annual events.
Benedetto’s collection started with Jordans, of course.
“It’s the most iconic brand out there,” he said. “Jordans are timeless. They’ll lose their popularity for a year or two and instantly be back where they’re really popular.”
Sneakers changed Rojas’ life, too. His first pair of Jordans were knockoffs, and he was mocked at school for it. It fueled him to become "the No. 1 sneaker plug in my area” of Ocean County, New Jersey, he said.
“Walking into school — everyone was wearing Hollister at the time. I couldn’t afford it. I had Aeropostale and fake Jordans,” Rojas said. Getting a real pair “was actually amazing . . . Me and my brother, we got the Master 12s. It was just amazing. It felt good and I wasn’t getting made fun of anymore. I wasn’t walking around with glue on my shoes.”
“And now look at him,” Kingwood said.
"And now look," he responded.
Rojas is, of course, surrounded by Jordans.
The memories are stitched tight. Small details lace through their recollections — proof that those telling the tales are re-living the moment instead of just remembering it.
It seems as if no one forgets their first Air Jordan sneakers.
Alex Rojas recalled waiting in line with his little brother, giddy in the knowledge that he wasn’t going to be made fun of at school for his knock-off sneakers anymore. Mike Murphy’s dad took him a year after the original 1985 release; going to class the next day, “you felt like the man.”
Omar Kingwood was a senior in high school when he got his first pair, and he paid for them with money he earned working at KFC. Calie Rodriguez spent chunks of his adolescence homeless, and the fresh kicks were a fresh start. “It was kind of like, ‘Oh, that girl [you always had a crush on] said yes,' and we’re going on a date,” he said. “It’s like that girl you always wanted.”
Above all, it felt like being like Mike.
April 1 marks the 40th anniversary of the first Air Jordans — a collaboration between Michael Jordan and Nike that transcended the leather, suede and foam that make up the whole. The shoe, with its dozens of iterations over the years, often is credited with popularizing “sneakerhead” culture and all that it entails.
The first Air Jordans retailed for $65, and those same pairs, considered rare collector’s items, now can go for tens of thousands of dollars — if you can find them. As of March 10, StockX, an online sneaker e-tailer, had three pairs available, ranging from $35,359 to $81,374, depending on the size. Those prices are in line with how much authenticated shoes are going for on eBay.
The Air Jordans are a shoe, yes, but they’re also a signifier, a unifier and an idea, said Thilo Kunkel, professor at Temple University’s School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management. And pivotally, the originals, like their namesake, demanded attention, thanks to their iconic (and forbidden) red-and-black Chicago Bulls color scheme, known as a colorway.
“Color was forbidden [by the NBA], and Nike decided we're going to do it anyway, and we will have color, and we're going to pay the fine every time he plays in those colorful sneakers,” Kunkel said.
“That was part of that rebellious statement that they were making and that people now were able to make by wearing these shoes," he added. "It’s the signal that I'm part of a specific community, a community of sneakerheads, part of a community of people who care about certain elements of the NBA 20, 30 years ago as well as people who honor that legacy.”
Jordans had a cultural impact that extended itself to cinema — particularly director Spike Lee’s Mars Blackmon character in the 1986 movie “She’s Gotta Have It,” who loves the shoes. Lee subsequently played the Blackmon character alongside Jordan in various Air Jordan commercials — the most iconic of which involves Blackmon asking Jordan what makes him “the best player in the universe.”
“Is it the vicious dunks?”
“No, Mars," Jordan replies.
“Is it the haircut?”
“No, Mars.”
“Is it the shoes?”
“No, Mars.”
The two go on in a similar vein until Blackmon insists, “It’s gotta be the shoes!”
BANNED
The original shoe spoke to Jordan’s immense confidence and Nike’s belief that he could live up to the hype.
Jordan was a prodigy out of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his deal with Nike — five years for $2.5 million plus royalties — became official the day of his NBA debut. Never mind that the shoe was less than 51% white, which violated league standards and wearing them incurred a fine of $5,000 per game that Nike agreed to pay.
The ad slogan that year was powerful in its simplicity and elicited a sense of camaraderie by way of unified defiance.
Michael Jordan game worn 'Dunk Sole' Air Jordan 1 sneakers on display at Sotheby's in 2021. Credit: Getty Images/Cindy Ord
“Banned.”
It was a brilliant marketing move.
“He wasn't supposed to wear the shoes,” said Murphy, 52, a sneaker collector from Ronkonkoma who has an estimated 400-piece collection, about 250 under the Jordan brand. “It was like a whole big thing, and everybody wanted to see what he was going to wear next, and everybody just wanted to be him.”
When Murphy was about 13, his father bought him his first pair of Air Jordans — the second drop, released in 1986. Though he didn’t start collecting seriously until 2020, the love affair lived on through the years.
“I just bought two pairs in two days,” he said. “You’re getting the things from your childhood, and then the people who missed out [the first time around], they’re falling in love with them.”
In addition to new versions of the shoe every year, Nike also has released replicas of older models. The anniversary, and the shoes being released to celebrate it, has created a renewed interest in Jordans, said Ronkonkoma's John Hayden, owner of LISCO NY, a sneaker e-tailer which also has a private showroom in Islandia.
Several varieties of Air Jordan through the years. Credit: Getty Images
The Jordan market became oversaturated in past years, inhibiting their resale value, but the bear recently has turned bullish, he said.
“Especially this year, it’s going to be a very good year for Jordans,” he said while showing at the Sneaker Xchange, a buy, sell and trade show that pops up a few times a year at the Huntington Hilton (the next one is tentatively slated for May). “They’re once again coming out with a lot of the original colorways. They’ve done two pairs so far this year and they’ve sold out instantly and they’re going for double the retail.”
THE SNEAKER GAME IS BACK
It's a blustery day in early March, but the Grand Ballroom at the Hilton on Broadhollow Road is buzzing with activity. Some use small trolleys to drag their hauls through the crowded aisles between tables, others brandish wads of $100 bills, and others still carefully position (and reposition . . . and reposition) their prized pieces.
There are sneakers everywhere, but Jordans reign supreme.
“You’re talking about a man who’s a legend — a legendary man, somebody who’s an innovator, somebody who did so much for the culture just by being a great athlete,” said Rodriguez, who got his first pair of Jordans, the 12s, when he was about 17. “It’s iconic in that way, and if you look at history, you see that Jordans are always relevant. They never really fell off.”
Rodriguez, 36, of Newport, Rhode Island, credits the Air Jordans with helping to turn his life around.
Calie Rodriguez of Newport, R.I., shows off his Air Jordans at the Long Island Sneaker Exchange Expo. Credit: Gary Licker
“I had a hard upbringing . . . and I was homeless a lot of my teenage years until I became an entrepreneur,” selling sneakers and starting a rental car business, he said. “First I was doing the wrong things, and then I started doing the right things and got put on to selling shoes by my cousin. It was really profitable.”
Jordans also further highlight Black excellence, said Kingwood, a Bronx-born sneaker collector who runs the Get Money Kicks Sneaker Show.
“It basically started a movement that initially [was about someone] who looked like us that was starting the [sneaker] game,” Kingwood said. “With Jordan being as good as he was and having sneakers that we can relate to . . . [a Black man] has a sneaker out there and we just kept buying it and buying it.”
There are dozens of Air Jordan releases slated for this year, including numerous retro throwbacks.
“We’re back — as of 2025 right now, as of March 2, the sneaker game is back,” said Rojas, who buys, sells and trades under BoyKryKickz LLC. Added Kingwood: “It pumped some life back into it. It needed it. They’re releasing [shoes] in abundance.”
GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL
And there’s something about Jordans that will always feel special, said Griffen Schimmel, from Long Beach.
Griffen Schimmel of Long Beach shows off his Air Jordans at the Long Island Sneaker Exchange Expo. Credit: Gary Licker
“I love every second of it. I love being able to display my love for not just Jordans but the man himself,” Schimmel said. “It’s kind of like Pokemon — you gotta catch 'em all. One color comes and you’re like, oh, I don’t have that, and it matches with this outfit . . . I buy them and I flip them here and there and it’s all for fun. It’s a community. It’s a great diverse community of people that just want to bond over one thing.”
Schimmel flips sneakers under LBNY Supreme, and though he’s only 21, it’s not uncommon for sellers to start young. Andrew Benedetto, who runs the Sneaker Xchange, started doing small shows when he was 15. It’s now grown so much that a few years ago, he brought on a partner in Mike Capobianco of Locust Valley to help run the five or six annual events.
Benedetto’s collection started with Jordans, of course.
“It’s the most iconic brand out there,” he said. “Jordans are timeless. They’ll lose their popularity for a year or two and instantly be back where they’re really popular.”
Sneakers changed Rojas’ life, too. His first pair of Jordans were knockoffs, and he was mocked at school for it. It fueled him to become "the No. 1 sneaker plug in my area” of Ocean County, New Jersey, he said.
“Walking into school — everyone was wearing Hollister at the time. I couldn’t afford it. I had Aeropostale and fake Jordans,” Rojas said. Getting a real pair “was actually amazing . . . Me and my brother, we got the Master 12s. It was just amazing. It felt good and I wasn’t getting made fun of anymore. I wasn’t walking around with glue on my shoes.”
“And now look at him,” Kingwood said.
"And now look," he responded.
Rojas is, of course, surrounded by Jordans.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
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