Are Air Jordan sneakers heading for a boom?

It’s no debate Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time.

But he also has the most notable and popular sneakers to ever hit the market: the Air Jordan.

Launching in 1985, the original Air Jordan was anticipated to make Nike just $3 million in the first three years.

The trainers ended up bringing in $126 million in the first year alone - safe to say, it’s become the most iconic shoe of all time.

Although Jordan’s playing career ended in 2003, Nike continues to introduce new models, reaching 37 different styles.

“[Michael] Jordan’s legacy goes down in the history books as one of the greatest [basketball players]. That obviously helps with the shoe,” The Hype Kelowna co-owner Damon Sumner, told Kelowna10. "I feel there’s no stopping Air Jordan."

In 2020, Netflix released the documentary series The Last Dance, which caught the eye of over 23 million viewers in the first month alone.

And the newly released autobiographical sports drama film Air, is expected to further boost interest in Jordan and the shoe. It tells the story of how Nike pursued the rookie baller to create the sneakers.

“Obviously, with [Air] and The Last Dance, it’s bringing a lot of eyes onto the community. A lot of people are realizing that these shoes are worth lots of money,” Sumner said. “Especially if you have the older pairs, it’s making people search their closet to find their pairs they had 20 to 30 years ago and make their money.”

Despite the hype around the new film, Sumner doesn’t think it will have the same effect as the mini-series.

“I feel like it won’t have as much of an impact as The Last Dance, just because it gave it that boost that it didn’t have before. I don’t think there’s much more it can go,” he said. “Obviously, with those original pairs, I feel there’s still room for them to boom.”

He added the everlasting popularity of the sneaker stems from Jordan’s legacy, and how it has become synonymous with pop culture today.

“People are literally wearing them now to do anything they want in them. People hike in them, go to the gym in them. It’s probably the most versatile shoe in terms of streetwear,” Sumner added.

Various auctions list some of the rarest pairs in the tens of thousands of dollars.

In 2021, Sotheby’s auction house sold a pair of game worn Nike Air Ships from 1984 for over $1 million.