Air Jordan XI (AJ11)
The Air Jordan 11 had a different start than its predecessors.
Tinker Hatfield showed Jordan a sample of the shoe in May of 1995. After seeing the shoe – and against Tinker’s
suggestions – Jordan decided to lace up the concords in the playoffs against the Magic. However, as the story
goes, Jordan’s decision to wear the shoes violated league uniform rules, and after wearing the Concords for two
games, he switched the Air Flight 1 for one game and then to a Black/Dark Concord-White (also known as the
‘Space Jams’) version of the shoe.
What this means is before the start of the 1995-1995 season, Jordan already wore two versions of the shoe that he would never wear again in a game: - Air Jordan 11 – Black/Black Dark-Concord – White #45 - Air Jordan 11 – Black/Dark Concord-White (#45) Fast forward to the 1995-1996 season, where Jordan wore the standard ‘Concord’ model for every regular-season game. In the All-Star game, where he took home MVP honors, Jordan wore the ‘Columbias’ for their only appearance.
In the playoffs – Jordan mostly wore the ‘Playoffs’ version of the Air Jordan 11. However, on 5/11, Jordan injured his ankle during series with the Knicks and switched to the Air Jordan 11 Low (Bred Lows).
After returning from a second retirement, Jordan would treat us once more on the court with a new Air Jordan 11 Colorway – the “Cool Greys.” Like the Air Jordan 9 Cool Grey colorway, this specific colorway for the Air Jordan 11 would also be very popular amongst the Air Jordan XI line.
We have yet to see Jordan wear the only pair are the Cobalt lows.
The 1995-1996 season for Jordan and the Bulls goes down as one of the greatest ever. After an offseason of reconditioning into basketball shape, Jordan came back to lead the league in scoring, win league MVP honors, NBA Finals MVP honors and All-Star Game MVP honors – all on the way to going 72-10 and winning his 4th championship. In the NBA finals, Jordan wore a special Air Jordan 11 ‘Bred’ low cut sneaker found by and in possession of shoezeum/Jordy Geller.
The original Jordan 11 Colorways are as follows:
AIR JORDAN XI - WHITE/BLACK-DARK CONCORD
Release Date: 1995
Referred to as: Concords (#45)
Photo Credit: Jordan Collection
Date: 5/7/1995
Photographer/Credit: Nathaniel Butler/Getty
AIR JORDAN XI - BLACK-TRUE RED-WHITE
Release Date: 1996
Referred to as: Breds / Playoffs
Photo Credit: SoleCollector
Date: 6/12/1996
Photographer/Credit: Barry Gossage/Getty
AIR JORDAN XI - WHITE/BLACK-DARK CONCORD
Release Date: 1996
Referred to as: Concords (#23)
Photo Credit: Jordan Collection
Date: None
Photographer/Credit: Beckett Basketball Monthly (Feb 1996)
AIR JORDAN XI - WHITE-COLUMBIA BLUE-BLACK
Release Date: 1996
Referred to as: Columbias
Photo Credit: None
Date: 2/11/1996
Photographer/Credit: Nathaniel Butler/Getty
AIR JORDAN XI - BLACK-DARK GREY-TRUE RED
Release Date: 1996
Referred to as: Bred Lows
Photo Credit: Jordan Collection
Date: 5/25/1996
Photographer/Credit: Tony Ranze/Getty
AIR JORDAN XI - WHITE/LIGHT GREY-COBALT
Release Date: 1996
Referred to as: Cobalts
Photo Credit: Jordan Collection
Date: None
Photographer/Credit: None
AIR JORDAN XI - BLACK/DARK CONCORD-WHITE
Release Date: 2000
Referred to as: Space Jams
Photo Credit: SoleCollector
Date: 5/14/1995
Photographer/Credit: Barry Gossage/NBAE/Getty
AIR JORDAN XI - LOW - BLACK-TRUE RED-WHITE
Release Date: N/A (MJ PE)
Referred to as: Bred Lows
Photo Credit: StockX (Similar Version to MJ PE)
Date: 6/5/1996
Photographer/Credit: Manny Milan/Sports Illustrated
Air Jordan XI (AJ11) - Wizards
AIR JORDAN XI - COOL GREY
Release Date: 2001
Referred to as: Cool Greys
Photo Credit: Goat
Date: 1/25/2003
Photographer/Credit: Mitchell Layton/Getty