[junkie-dropcap]T[/junkie-dropcap]he glorious “Bred” colorway. It’s easily the most notable colorway for any Air Jordan sneaker. While we know Michael Jordan and his Air Jordan line go hand in hand with sneaker culture. Especially today as these hues boast some of the higest resell prices. Jordan Brand, a subsidiary of Nike is largly responsible for the craze in the sneaker industry and the “Bred” colorway were often worn exclusively during the postseason. It’s in these sneakers where Jordan forever cemented his legacy as the greatest player to play the game of basketball. Today WAVYPACK counts down the Top 5 “Bred” Air Jordan sneakers.
NOTE: During the regular season, Michael Jordan wore primarily white-based colorways of his signature sneakers. But when the postseason kicked off, Jordan switched things up and sported black colorways during the NBA Playoffs. This was tradition for Michael. The “Bred” colorways are the primo colorways for Air Jordan sneakers. They’re often the most popular and are as iconic as the player who gave them their popularity.
Air Jordan 11 “Bred”
Name: Air Jordan 11 “Bred”
Release Date: 12/14/19
Resell Price: $363+
Color: Black/Varsity Red-White
Style Code: 378037-061
To start off the list is the beloved Air Jordan 1. For years, the Air Jordan 11 was the pinnacle of Air Jordan sneaker releases. It’s essentially the perfect basketball shoe. Designed by Tinker Hatfield with performance in mind. Standout features included the translucent outsole, the carbon fiber shank plate, and the patent leather mudguard. What makes this shoe so special was it’s significance in Michael’s career.
Jordan left the Chicago Bulls for 18 months and when he returned, the Bulls attempted a late playoff run. Unfortunately, as fate would have it. The Orlando Magic eliminated the Bulls in the . Jordan would return the following year, stronger, faster and more efficient. They designed the shoe to fine tune his movement on the court, technically making Jordan faster and more agile. The Chicago Bulls would go on to win their 4 title in 1996. With the second best regular season record of 72-10 and till this day go down as the greatest team of all time.
Air Jordan 3 “Black Cement”
Name: Air Jordan 3 “Black Cement”
Release Date: 2/17/18
Resell Price: $430
Color: Black/Fire Red-Cement Grey-White
Style Code: 854262-001
It all started at the 1988 NBA All-Star Game in Chicago. Michael Jordan laced up the black and cement grey AJ 3 for the first and only time on February 7. Among 18,403 fans Air Jordan dazzled everyone in the arena that night with a 40 point performance which also included 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals. Jordan would ultimately take home the 1988 All-Star MVP honor for that game.
During the 4th quarter, Air Jordan 3 commercials showcased Michael Jordan and a young Spike Lee, aka Mars Blackmon wearing the sneaker. Combine Jordan’s star appeal with his performance on the court. You tie in the commercials, and the fact that His Airness would never wear the Air Jordan 3 “Black Cements” again, thus the legend of the Air Jordan 3 “Black Cement was born.
Air Jordan 6 “Infrared”
Name: Air Jordan 6 “Infrared”
Release Date: 2/24/18
Retail Price: $370
Color: Black/Infrared 23-black
Style Code: 384664 060
Nike focused on one thing this year, and that was helping improve Jordan’s performance on the court. Michael struggled with the Detroit Pistons and this time around he wanted to put Detroit Pistons behind him. So Mike went to work. He put on 15 pounds of muscle jumping from a meager 200 lbs to 215 lbs. The Chicago Bulls defeated the Pistons that year in the Eastern Conference Finals in 1991.
They would go toe to toe with Magic Johnson’s Los Angeles Lakers in the 1991 NBA Finals. The Chicago Bulls took the series 4-1 and Michael would achieve his long-awaited first Championship. The ‘Black/Infrared’ colorway of the Air Jordan VI is arguably one of the best colorways to release for this sneaker.
Air Jordan 1 High OG “Bred Toe”
Name: Air Jordan 1 High OG “Bred Toe”
Release Date: 2/24/18
Resell Price: $699+
Color: Gym Red/Summit White-BlacK
Style Code: 555088 610
Peter Moore designed the Air Jordan 1. While most of the design elements stem from other popular Nike designs such as the Air Force 1, Nike Dunk, Air Ship, and Nike Vandal. The standout feature of the Air Jordan 1 was the logo that Moore sketched for Michael Jordan’s agent, David Falk. The ‘Wings’ logo as we know it today features a basketball with wings coming out from each side, the perfect metaphor and marketing genius for Michael’s “Air” Jordan signature sneaker line.
What makes the Air Jordan 1 special is how it wears overtime. It’s the only shoe that I’d say looks better the more you wear it. You can dress them up, you can dress them down. They’re perfect for just about any occasion. It’s only downside is its level of comfort. They’re not very comfortable, especially if you have intentions of wearing them for a while. Although that’s nothing a good insole couldn’t fix.
Air Jordan 4 “Bred”
Name: Air Jordan 1 High OG “Bred Toe”
Release Date: 2/24/18
Resell Price: $465+
Color: Black/Cement Grey-Summit White-Fire Red
Style Code: 308497 06
This is it, this right here is the one. It goes down for us as the best Air Jordan “Bred” sneaker of all-time. The Air Jordan 4 sits beautifully on any foot. It’s the perfect “mid” sneaker. Fun fact, when the Air Jordan 4 initially released. Few people wanted to purchase them in 1989 because of the $110 price tag. That all changed after Jordan had some historic games with the Air Jordan 4 (IV) Original Black / Cement Grey. One being the famous shot over Craig Ehlo of the Cleveland Cavaliers. If you haven’t seen it, just search on Google “The Shot”.. yea it’s that iconic.
This is a shoe you double up on, but they’re so durable that you can wear them a lot and keep them clean with little effort. There’s a very minimal crease margin and the shoe looks great with white socks. There are so many memories in this shoe and it’s the reason it takes the top spot on our list of The Top 5 Best “Bred” Air Jordan’s Ranked. We hope you enjoyed the list. For more great sneaker content check out Every Air Jordan Sneaker Michael Jordan Wore Winning a Championship.
