Air Jordan 12 Retro 'Flu Game'

The rising sun

Tinker Hatfield's Air Jordan 12 came out in 1996 at $135, first in white and black. Its signature look, the radiating stitch lines across the upper, was drawn from the rising-sun motif of the flag of Japan.

Jordan wore four colorways of the 12 during the 1996-97 season. The black-and-red pair, released at retail in 1997, became the most famous of them, and collectors know it as the 'Flu Game.'

Game 5 in Salt Lake City

The Bulls and Utah Jazz were tied 2-2 in the 1997 Finals. Jordan woke at 2:30 a.m. on June 11, 1997, with vomiting and diarrhea, the result of a stomach virus or food poisoning likely caused by a pizza ordered the night before. Years later, in The Last Dance, he confirmed it was food poisoning.

Utah built a large early lead at the Delta Center. Jordan scored 17 points in the second quarter as Chicago cut the halftime deficit to four, then 15 in the fourth. With the Bulls down 85-84, he made one of two free throws to tie it, and after Pippen grabbed a rebound he hit a three-pointer for an 88-85 lead with 25 seconds left. Chicago won 90-88.

Jordan finished with 38 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists in 44 minutes. As the final seconds wound down he collapsed into Scottie Pippen's arms, the image that came to stand for the game. The win gave Chicago a 3-2 series lead, and the Bulls went on to win the championship.

The remaster

The Flu Game 12 was retroed in 2003 and again in 2009, when it came in nubuck instead of the original tumbled leather. The 2016 pair was marketed as a remastered version meant to match the original's quality more closely.

It released on May 28, 2016, at $190, at Jordan Brand retailers and major sneaker shops, with original-style packaging and a retro card.

On October 3, 2026, the lowest listed asking price for a men's pair at a U.S. sneaker retailer was $285.

The pair from the game itself

The shoes Jordan actually wore that night are a separate object with their own history. He signed them and gave them to Preston Truman, a Utah Jazz ball boy who had brought him applesauce before games.

That game-worn pair sold at auction in 2013 for $104,765, a record at the time for game-worn shoes in any sport. In June 2023 it sold again at auction for $1.38 million, after being photo-matched by two authentication firms and accompanied by a letter from Truman.

The 2016 retro is a mass-produced reproduction of that colorway, not a game-used shoe, and its value tracks the sneaker market rather than those auction records.

How to identify the 2016 pair

The upper is black tumbled leather, the material of the original. The mudguard and outsole are varsity red with a basketball-style texture.

The 2009 retro used nubuck instead, which is the quickest way to tell the two apart. Men's pairs of the 2016 release carry style code 130690-002.

The numbers

Release date

May 28, 2016

Retail price

$190

Style code

130690-002

Original model price

$135 (1996)

1997 Finals Game 5

June 11, 1997, Delta Center, Salt Lake City; Bulls 90, Jazz 88; attendance 19,911

Jordan box score

44:17 min, 13-27 FG, 2-5 3P, 10-12 FT, 38 PTS, 7 REB, 5 AST, 3 STL, 1 BLK, 3 TOV

Series after Game 5

Bulls led 3-2

Production

No production figures have been published

Timeline

1. 1996

   The Air Jordan 12 is released at $135.

2. 1997

   The black-and-red Air Jordan 12 is released.

3. Jun 11, 1997

   Jordan scores 38 while ill in Game 5 of the Finals at Utah, wearing black-and-red 12s.

4. 2003

   First retro of the Flu Game 12.

5. 2009

   Second retro, in nubuck.

6. 2013

   Jordan's game-worn pair sells at auction for $104,765.

7. May 28, 2016

   The remastered Flu Game 12 releases at $190.

8. 2020

   In The Last Dance, Jordan confirms the illness was food poisoning.

9. Jun 2023

   The game-worn pair sells at auction for $1.38 million.

10. Oct 3, 2026

    Lowest listed asking price at a U.S. sneaker retailer: $285.

The world in 2016

• Apr 21, 2016

  Prince dies at 57.

• Jun 12, 2016

  A gunman kills 49 at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando; that night Hamilton wins 11 Tony Awards.

• Jun 19, 2016

  The Cleveland Cavaliers beat Golden State in seven games for their first NBA title.

• Aug 5, 2016

  The Rio Olympics open; the United States wins 46 gold medals.

• Nov 2, 2016

  The Chicago Cubs win their first World Series since 1908.

• Nov 8, 2016

  Donald Trump is elected president.

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 12 Retro 'Flu Game' is number 81 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 (86 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Jordan's illness likely came from a pizza ordered the night before Game 5.
• The stitching pattern on the Air Jordan 12 comes from the rising sun on the flag of Japan.
• Jordan scored 15 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter.
• The ball boy who received the game-worn pair had been bringing Jordan applesauce.
• The 2009 Flu Game retro used nubuck; 2016 went back to tumbled leather.
• The game-worn pair rose from $104,765 in 2013 to $1.38 million in 2023.