Zack Schlemmer 
If you’re a collector of Jordans, there’s no doubt you’ve noticed that early 2015 has been the season of the Air Jordan 10. As one of the debut models of the “remastered” Air Jordan Retro series, the 10 is back and looking great in brand new colorways like the “Bulls over Broadway” and “Lady Liberty” versions, as well as the upcoming and highly anticipated original Chicago colorway in the “Double Nickel” edition.
With the Air Jordan 10 making some of the biggest headlines in the sneaker world so far this year, we figured the time was perfect for our next edition of Jordan 101 to feature the tenth entry into the Air Jordan line. Continue reading for all the most essential facts every sneaker head should know about the Air Jordan 10.
Jordan’s Comeback Shoe
After his baseball-playing hiatus from the NBA, Michael Jordan returned to the game he was meant to play in March of 1995. With MJ not on the NBA court since the last game of the 1993 Finals, we missed out on him wearing the Air Jordan IX entirely. But upon his return, it was the Air Jordan X in the Chicago colorway—complete with his new #45 stitched at the ankles—on the hardwood.
45, Not 23: First Air Jordan to Have #45 for MJ’s PEs
Speaking of #45, the Air Jordan X was the only Jordan model to prominently feature the number 45 for his PE editions, as he only wore that number for a brief time before the Bulls un-retired his #23. MJ’s pair of the “Space Jam” Air Jordan XIs that he debuted in the 1995 Playoffs did have #45 on the heels, but he was already back to wearing #23 by then.
Career Highlights on the Outsole
When the Air Jordan X was being designed by Tinker Hatfield, nobody thought Michael was ever going to play another game in the NBA. For that reason, the Air Jordan X featured some of MJ’s career highlights and achievements inscribed on each sole as a tribute to his legacy. As we all know, MJ returned, continuing his legendary career and signature sneaker line.
City Series Colorways
One of the first sets of colorways that could be considered a “pack” by today’s sneaker lexicon, the Air Jordan X was released in special looks for the cities of New York, Orlando, Seattle, Charlotte (or more specifically UNC), Chicago, and Sacramento. Each featured the same color blocking, with each city’s respective accent colorway, except the all-black Sacramento version with purple accents.
Most OG Coloways Since the Air Jordan 1
With a total of eight different versions, the Air Jordan X had the most original colorways of any Jordans since the Air Jordan 1 ten years earlier. The colorways are as follows: “Steel”, “Shadow”, “Chicago”, “Charlotte”, “New York”, “Orlando”, “Sacramento”, and “Seattle”. Throw in Mitch Richmond’s “home” Sacramento PE (in the same block as the rest of the City Series) and that makes nine.
Early Crop of PEs
After the Air Jordan IX, the Air Jordan X was the second Air Jordan model to feature PE editions for players other than Michael. Minus the “Charlotte” colorway that was worn predominantly by the University of North Carolina, every other colorway from the City Series has a corresponding player from the respective NBA team that received a PE in 1995. For the Chicago colorway it was Michael Jordan, of course, but it also doubled as a Miami Heat friendly colorway for Harold Miner’s PE. For the Seattle colorway, Kendall Gill got the PE honors, while Nick Anderson represented Orlando, Hubert Davis represented New York, and Mitch Richmond rounded out the PE crew for Sacramento. This early set helped establish the PE as we know it today.
Defunct Toe Cap
The X was originally designed with a toe cap overlay, but Michael Jordan didn’t like the look and nixed the idea early on. However, some early production pairs of the Steel colorway actually hit retail with the toe cap. After that, no OG editions of the X had the toe cap.
First ‘Remastered’ Air Jordan in an OG Colorway
Even though we’re already well into the “remastered” offerings of retro Jordans, the “Chicago” AKA “Double Nickel” colorway will be the first to release in an original colorway. Releasing the same day as Michael’s legendary performance of scoring 55 points versus the Knicks at Madison Square Garden in only his fifth game back from retirement, it’s perhaps the perfect OG colorway to help introduce the remastered series.
