The Air Jordan 9 came during a historic period of Michael Jordan’s career. After just skyrocketing his team to three glorious and historic wins in his first ‘threepeat’, in late 1993 MJ announced his retirement from the NBA and basketball. This news startled the sports world and raised many questions for sports pundits and fans alike, but none moreso than Nike, who had to decide on the future of the iconic Air Jordan range.
The Air Jordan 9 was already ready for release by the time of his announcement and so we got to see it on-court during the 1993-94 season, and the pair were even immortalised in a monument outside the Chicago Bulls’ arena! Yet the Air Jordan 9 was the only model until the Air Jordan 15 that Michael Jordan himself never wore on-court during an NBA game. Nike did, however, create a special pair with cleats for him to don during his short career in baseball!
The design of this historic silhouette took an international approach, with designer Tinker Hatfield looking to the far East for inspiration! Hatfield hoped to represent how MJ had achieved global fame and recognition by inscribing the soles with words inspired by Michael like “Intense” and “Dedicated” and written out in many world languages, including Japanese, German, Russian, and Swahili!
So, how do the Air Jordan 9s fit? Well, this silhouette features plentiful padding and two air units, one at the heel and one at the forefoot, both encased in the polyurethane midsole. This amount of padding can leave you with a tight fit! The one-pull lacing system also makes the sneaker lace up uniformly up the tongue, meaning you can’t loosen the lower sections of lace very easily!
The Air Jordan 9 does fit true to size if you have a slim foot or enjoy a firm and unyielding fit for intense sports. But, these are certainly some of Jordan brand’s more restrictive sneakers so for those with wider feet or who want just a touch more room inside the sneaker could definitely benefit from going half a size up! Make sure to check out Laced who have an amazing selection of sneakers.