Jordan 1

As the story goes, the year was 1984, and Chicago Bulls' rookie Michael Jordan was a hot commodity for endorsement deals, with sneakers naturally being paramount.

Jordan had just come off a stellar college basketball season at the University of North Carolina. He wore Converse and was a personal fan of Adidas, so he took meetings with both companies, but they never reached a deal. It seems strange today, but at the time, Michael Jordan hated Nike—so much so that he refused to take a meeting with them.

He was persuaded by his mother, Deloris Jordan, to visit the Nike campus in Oregon and listen to their pitch. His plan was to go through the motions to appease his parents and agent but he ultimately left with a contract unlike any other.

Rather than walking in the shadows of established athletes like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird (which may have been the case had he signed elsewhere), Michael Jordan shone in the Nike limelight. He was paid more than any other athlete with a sneaker endorsement at the time. Nike made him the face of its growing presence in basketball, and gave him his own sneaker line—called Air Jordan.

Many colorways got released in 1985 and 1986, during the original run of the Air Jordan 1. However, the Black/Red or "Bred" colorway is the most popular and recognizable. During an era when most sneakers on the court were primarily white with accenting team colors, the black and red shoes were so bold and edgy that the NBA deemed them unacceptable, as they didn't adhere to the strict uniform rules. MJ was warned that he'd be fined $5,000 each time he wore them, but Nike embraced the controversy and willingly paid the fines.

In a bit of clever marketing, Nike used the NBA's warning letters to sell the Air Jordan 1 as a shoe that was banned from the league, but not from the fans

The infamous commercial stated, "On September 15th, Nike created a revolutionary new basketball shoe. On October 18th, the NBA threw them out of the game. Fortunately, the NBA can't stop you from wearing them. Air Jordans from Nike."

Although it was actually a pair of black and red Nike Air Ships—a strikingly similar sneaker Michael Jordan wore during the start of his rookie season when he was fined—it didn't matter. The Air Jordan 1 solidified its place in history as the shoe that embodied Jordan's defiant attitude on the court.

Securing a pair of Air Jordan 1 sneakers for retail price today is an achievement, but in 1985 and 1986, they weren't nearly as rare or collectible. Air Jordan 1 was released for its original production run in almost 20 variations, including a slew of high-tops, several low-tops and the oddball Air Jordan 1 KO, also known as the AJKO.

Nike had tremendous success in surpassing its projected sales goals, but they flat-out overproduced the Air Jordan 1. The massive surplus of Jordan 1s in the market caused the shoes to sit on shelves. They retailed for $65 but could easily be obtained for much less on sales racks.

Today, the Air Jordan 1 High model retails for $170 but is worth much more on the resale market. It's highly collectible due to its history, extensive catalog of colorways, and simple construction. It's possible to wear a pair of original Air Jordan 1s from 1985, whereas other shoes from that period are usually unwearable. Another plus is that they retail for less than other Jordans, like the Air Jordan 11 or Air Jordan 3.

More recently, ESPN's The Last Dance docuseries gave fans a closer look at the Air Jordan 1 "Chicago" as Jordan laced them up in the locker room and wore them for his last game at Madison Square Garden before his first retirement in 1994. The sneaker was already one of the most popular original colorways, but immediately after the episode aired, demand soared and resale prices skyrocketed by nearly 100%.