John Kim 
On October 24th, 1984, Michael Jordan signed an endorsement deal with Nike. Not long after, he was presented with his own sneaker called the Nike Air Jordan 1, which went on to revolutionize the sneaker industry as we know it. This Air Jordan 1 seen here might look like your run-of-the-mill OG Air Jordan 1 from 1985, but look again; this is actually a sample from November of 1984 and was likely made for Michael Jordan to wear-test given the mis-matched size 13/13.5 (Jordan’s right foot was size 13.5 while his left was a 13). The sticker label that remains well preserved on the insole is really what makes these Air Jordan 1s so unique. Not only are they dated to be from November of 1984 (about a full year before the retail release) and have Michael Jordan’s distinct sizing info down, the shoes are remarked as “Jordan Pro BB”, which could mean that the name “Air Jordan 1” may not even have been decided by then. There’s even a missing lace-hole right below the ankle, the Nike logo on the sole is in a different position, the toe-box is much shorter, and the Swoosh is unlike many other OG 1s from ’85.
Remember, this is roughly one month after Michael signed a contract with Nike, but if you’re skeptical of the nature of this sample, how’s this for added evidence: these shoes are in the possession of Kris Arnold, an actor (credits in House of Cards, Homicide: Life on the Street) who once worked for Pro-Serv company, which represented Michael Jordan during the contract negotiations with Nike (they also represented Patrick Ewing, Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, and a bevy of other star athletes in the 80s). In 1993 during a routine “spring cleaning”, the company was about to throw out a bunch of old Nike samples, but Arnold, a huge Jordan and Bulls fan, was quick to snag them. Over two decades later, Kris unearthed them from his storage and learned that these freebies that were almost thrown out were potentially made specifically for Michael to test out. Could this be one of the first Air Jordan 1s to ever leave a production facility?
