Q&A Why Are Air Jordan 1's Banned?

$5K Fine? No Problem.

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When Michael Jordan kicked off his 1984 rookie season newly-signed under the Nike imprint, the Beaverton-based company created his first signature sneaker, the Air Jordan 1 in a black and red colorway. But there was one problem — It didn’t adhere to the aforementioned shoe color criteria. While Jordan was never seen wearing them in a regular season game, legend has it that every time Jordan stepped foot on the floor in these, the league would charge him a $5,000 fine for going against the so-called “dress code”. Given that Nike wanted to rebel and continue their marketing efforts for the shoes, it’s rumored that they ended up covering the costs themselves.