Air Jordan 11 Retro 'Bred'

A shoe designed while Jordan was gone

Tinker Hatfield designed the Air Jordan 11 while Michael Jordan was away from basketball, playing minor league baseball. The shoe paired a ballistic mesh upper with a carbon fiber spring plate, and its most striking feature was the glossy patent leather mudguard, a material no one had put on a basketball shoe before.

Jordan first wore the 11 in the 1995 playoffs against Orlando, in a white-and-black version later called the 'Concord,' even though Hatfield had advised him the shoes were not quite ready. The Concord reached stores in November 1995 at $125, and Jordan wore it through the entire 1995-96 regular season.

The black-and-red pair was the playoff shoe. It went on sale on April 1, 1996, at $125, and Jordan wore it through the 1996 postseason. At first it was simply the 'Black and Red'; after that run it picked up the name 'Playoffs,' and later message boards shortened the colors to 'Bred.'

Seventy-two wins and Father's Day

The 1995-96 Bulls went 72-10. Their Finals opponent, Seattle, had won 64, and the two teams' 136 combined wins broke the previous Finals record of 125, set in 1985.

Chicago beat the SuperSonics 4-2. The clincher came at the United Center on June 16, 1996, Father's Day: an 87-75 win in which Jordan had 22 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists, and Dennis Rodman tied a Finals record with 19 rebounds. Jordan was named Finals MVP for the fourth time, averaging 27.3 points.

It was his first championship since his father, James Jordan, was murdered in 1993, and he was overcome with emotion after the game. The shoe on his feet that June is the colorway this retro reproduces.

Five releases of one colorway

The Bred 11 has come back again and again. After the 1996 original, it returned in 2001, in 2008 as part of a two-shoe 'Countdown Pack' with an Air Jordan 12, and in December 2012 under style code 378037-010. Release coverage of the 2012 pair disagrees on the exact date and price.

The 2019 pair was the fifth release. Nike surprised fans by dropping it early on its SNKRS app on November 14, 2019, a month before the official December 14 date, at $220.

As with other Air Jordans of the period, the secondary market sets the price after release day. On October 3, 2026, the lowest listed asking price for a men's pair at a U.S. sneaker retailer was $410.

How the 2019 pair differs

Release coverage called the 2019 version the most faithful to the original so far. The patent leather mudguard is cut high on the upper, as it was in 1996, rather than the lower wrap of some earlier retros.

The heel carries Jordan's '23.' A '45,' the number Jordan wore when he first returned in 1995, had been rumored early on, but the final shoe kept 23. The pair also came in a box styled on the tan, red and black 1990s original.

Construction follows the original formula: black ballistic mesh and patent leather, a white midsole, red on the Jumpman, collar and throat, a translucent red outsole, a carbon fiber plate and Zoom Air cushioning in the heel and forefoot. Men's pairs carry style code 378037-061; grade school, preschool and toddler sizes have their own codes.

The numbers

Release date

December 14, 2019 (early SNKRS drop November 14, 2019)

Retail price

$220

Style code

378037-061 (grade school 378038-061, preschool 378039-061, toddler 378040-061)

Original 1996 release

April 1, 1996, $125, style code 130245-062

1996 Finals Game 6

June 16, 1996, United Center; Bulls 87, SuperSonics 75; attendance 24,544

Jordan box score

43:00 min, 5-19 FG, 1-3 3P, 11-12 FT, 22 PTS, 9 REB, 7 AST, 2 STL, 0 BLK, 5 TOV

1996 Finals

Bulls won 4-2; Jordan Finals MVP, 27.3 PPG

Production

No production figures have been published

Timeline

1. 1995

   Jordan debuts the Air Jordan 11 in the playoffs against Orlando.

2. Nov 1995

   The Air Jordan 11 reaches stores in the 'Concord' colorway at $125.

3. Apr 1, 1996

   The black-and-red Air Jordan 11 is released at $125.

4. Jun 16, 1996

   Wearing the 11, Jordan clinches his fourth title on Father's Day against Seattle.

5. 2001

   The Bred 11 returns for the first time as a retro.

6. 2008

   The Bred 11 is packaged with an Air Jordan 12 in the 'Countdown Pack.'

7. Dec 2012

   The Bred 11 retros again, style code 378037-010.

8. Nov 14, 2019

   Nike surprise-drops the 2019 Bred 11 on its SNKRS app.

9. Dec 14, 2019

   Official release of the 2019 Bred 11 at $220.

10. Oct 3, 2026

    Lowest listed asking price at a U.S. sneaker retailer: $410.

The world in 2019

• Jan 25, 2019

  President Trump ends a federal government shutdown with a three-week funding deal.

• Feb 3, 2019

  Tom Brady wins his sixth Super Bowl, a record for a player.

• Mar 22, 2019

  Special Counsel Robert Mueller submits his report.

• Apr 26, 2019

  Avengers: Endgame is released.

• Dec 18, 2019

  The House votes to impeach President Trump.

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, Air Jordan 11 Retro 'Bred' is number 67 of 100 in the sneakers entries of the FLOAT 100. 22 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (82 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Patent leather had never been used on a basketball shoe before the Air Jordan 11.
• The colorway was first called 'Black and Red'; 'Bred' came later from message boards.
• The 2019 pair dropped a month early as a surprise release.
• A '45' heel was rumored for the 2019 pair, but it shipped with '23.'
• In the 1996 Finals clincher, Jordan shot 5 for 19 and still won Finals MVP.
• The 1996 Finals teams combined for 136 regular-season wins, a Finals record.