John Kim 
If Michael Jordan’s contributions to the game of basketball and the sneaker sub-culture were summarized into one iconic symbol, it would be the Air Jordan XI. There simply isn’t enough time to point out all of the significant and game-changing stories that the Air Jordan XI had developed; Michael Jordan led the Bulls to a record-breaking 72-10 record and cruised to an NBA Championship while riding the Air Jordan XI, a sneaker that was responsible for a much-needed revitalization for Nike Basketball, and when Michael displayed shades of ’85 when he wore the shoes in the 1995 Playoffs despite stern warnings from league officials, an electric atmosphere began to develop. The XI became the object of insufferable desire by both the public and celebrity figures and was one of the most anticipated sneaker releases of the decade, and soon enough the XI established itself as the base criteria for building up a legitimate sneaker connoisseur’s collection, confirming this year’s Concord XI Retro as the ultimate must-have of must-haves for the sneaker savants of the current generation.
So, taking a look back at the original Air Jordan XI ‘Concord’ could not have arrived at a more opportune time. The Concord XI, which was voted by Sneaker News readers as the greatest Original Air Jordan of all-time, will inevitably be the subject of scrutiny and discussion regarding the ‘quality’, like the quirky blue-tint ton the outsoles and the gaudy slide-out box packaging. So this ‘revisiting’ isn’t intended to break down in multiple points and figures that the ‘OG’ was superior, but instead, it was to remind you that the legacy of this sneaker was built not on hype, but on prestige. Whether or not you were ‘around’ when the shoe first dropped is irrelevant; what matters is that the Concords will make a grand return and will once again reign as the ‘it’ shoe – just like it was fifteen years ago. Continue reading for a detailed gallery of the Air Jordan XI Concord in its original form, and stay tuned to Sneaker News for continued coverage of this December’s release of the Air Jordan XI ‘Concord’.
