Air Jordan 11 Retro 'Space Jam'

Black instead of white

Tinker Hatfield designed the Air Jordan 11 while Michael Jordan was away playing baseball, with a ballistic mesh upper, a carbon fiber spring plate and a patent leather mudguard, chosen because it was light and did not stretch. Jordan wore an unreleased white 'Concord' pair in the first two games of the 1995 Eastern Conference semifinals against Orlando.

That white shoe did not match his teammates' footwear, and one account says Jordan was 'forced by the NBA to switch to an all-black sneaker.' The result was a black patent-leather 11 with blue accents. One history says he debuted it in Game 4 of the series; his sample carried a '45' on the heel, the number he had worn on his return.

In Game 4, on May 14, 1995, at the United Center, Jordan scored 26 points with 7 rebounds and 4 steals in a 106-95 Bulls win. Orlando closed out the series in Chicago four nights later, 108-102. As one release guide put it, 'although the shoes are nicknamed "Space Jam", they existed long before the movie came out.'

Tune Squad versus Monstars

Space Jam, directed by Joe Pytka and distributed by Warner Bros., premiered in Los Angeles on November 10, 1996, and opened across the U.S. on November 15. Jordan played himself alongside Bugs Bunny, shot against a 360-degree green screen with motion trackers and green-suited actors standing in for the cartoon characters.

In the climactic game between the Tune Squad and the Monstars, Jordan wears the black Air Jordan 11, and the shoe took the film's name. Space Jam grossed $250.2 million worldwide on an $80 million budget, and its soundtrack, with R. Kelly's 'I Believe I Can Fly,' went six times platinum.

The film shoe itself was never sold in the 1990s. Although three Air Jordan 11 colorways were released during the 1995-96 season, the black-and-blue pair was not among them.

Three releases, one record

The Space Jam 11 first went on sale on Wednesday, December 13, 2000, at $125, as style 136046-041. Demand was so intense that kids skipped school to buy it, which helped push Jordan Brand to move future releases to Saturdays. It returned on December 23, 2009, at $175, as 378037-041, and Lil Wayne opened his song 'Forever' that year with a line about 'Space Jam Jordans.'

The 2016 pair celebrated the film's 20th anniversary with Warner Bros. Jordan Brand rebuilt it to the closest specifications yet to the original: a higher cut, thicker patent leather, Concord rather than royal accents, and, for the first time at retail, the '45' from Jordan's 1995 sample on the heel. It released on Saturday, December 10, 2016, at $220.

On Nike's fiscal 2017 third-quarter earnings call in March 2017, Nike brand president Trevor Edwards said: 'The Space Jam 11 was the largest and most successful shoe launch in the history of Nike.' No sales figures were given. It surpassed the previous holiday's Air Jordan 11 '72-10.'

A low-top Space Jam followed on May 18, 2024, at $190, the first low-top release of the colorway.

How to identify the 2016 pair

Look for style code 378037-003 and the colorway Black/Dark Concord-White. The upper is black, with a black patent leather mudguard with contrasting white piping, a Concord Jumpman facing forward, a 'Jumpman Jordan' tongue label and Nike Air branding on the insole.

The embroidered '45' on the heel is the giveaway; the 2000 and 2009 retros carry '23.' The 2016 sole is an icy blue translucent with Concord rubber pods carrying white Jumpman logos, where the earlier pairs used a yellow-tinted sole and Varsity Royal pods. The two-piece box carries custom 23/45 artwork, black plastic covering and Warner Bros. branding, with metallic purple shoe trees inside.

Why it endures

Few sneakers have a playoff series, a hit film and a company sales record attached to them. The 2016 Space Jam is the version that brought the 1995 '45' detail to stores, and Nike's own executives ranked its launch first in the company's history.

The numbers

Release date

December 10, 2016

Retail price

$220

Style code

378037-003

Sales

No figures published; described by Nike as its largest and most successful shoe launch

1995 ECSF Game 4 (May 14, United Center)

Bulls 106, Magic 95; attendance 24,358. Jordan: 44:00 min, 9-21 FG, 0-1 3P, 8-8 FT, 26 PTS, 7 REB, 3 AST, 4 STL

1995 ECSF Game 6 (May 18, United Center)

Magic 108, Bulls 102. Jordan: 39:00 min, 8-19 FG, 7-10 FT, 24 PTS, 9 REB, 7 AST, 4 STL, 4 BLK

Space Jam (1996)

Released November 15, 1996; $250.2 million worldwide on an $80 million budget

Timeline

1. May 7, 1995

   Jordan wears the white Concord 11 in Game 1 against Orlando.

2. May 14, 1995

   Jordan debuts the black 11, with a '45' heel, in Game 4, by one account; Bulls win 106-95.

3. May 18, 1995

   Orlando eliminates Chicago 108-102 in Game 6.

4. Nov 15, 1996

   Space Jam opens across the U.S., with Jordan in the black 11.

5. Dec 13, 2000

   First retail release, at $125, on a Wednesday; kids skip school to buy it.

6. Dec 23, 2009

   Second release, 378037-041, at $175.

7. Dec 10, 2016

   20th-anniversary release, 378037-003, at $220, with '45' on the heel.

8. Mar 2017

   Nike's brand president calls it the largest and most successful shoe launch in Nike history.

9. May 18, 2024

   First low-top Space Jam 11 releases at $190.

The world in 2016

• Feb 14, 2016

  Kobe Bryant plays his final All-Star Game, in Toronto.

• Apr 13, 2016

  Golden State wins its record 73rd game, passing the 1995-96 Bulls, the team that wore the 11.

• Jun 19, 2016

  Cleveland beats Golden State in seven games for its first NBA title.

• Aug 5, 2016

  The Summer Olympics open in Rio de Janeiro; the U.S. wins 46 gold medals.

• Oct 21, 2016

  A cyberattack on DNS provider Dyn knocks major websites offline.

• Nov 2, 2016

  The Chicago Cubs win their first World Series since 1908.

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 'Space Jam' is number 73 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 (81 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• The 'Space Jam' 11 was on an NBA court a year and a half before the movie came out.
• The 2000 release fell on a Wednesday, and kids skipping school to buy it helped move Jordan releases to Saturdays.
• The 2016 pair was the first retail Air Jordan 11 with Jordan's '45' on the heel.
• Lil Wayne opened 'Forever' with a line about 'Space Jam Jordans' in 2009, the year of the second release.
• On the Space Jam set, Jordan played against green-suited actors standing in for the cartoon characters.