Source: Cindy Ord / Getty
A marketing dream.
Back in 1984, Michael Jordan was banned from wearing the Black and Red Air Jordan 1 because sneakers at the time had to be 51% white and match your teammates’.
The frivolous rule was eventually lifted in the 2000s, but because it was the 80s, Nike just paid the $5,000 fine each game and told Jordan to keep rocking them because it gets the people going.
That’s how they earned the ‘Banned’ title—and a commercial playing into it—and on its 40th anniversary, Jordan Brand appears to have had a clever way to celebrate with the NBA’s help—until they didn’t.
In celebration of 40 years of Air Jordan, the Jordan Brand tried to get its Jumpman logo “banned” on the court, but the NBA pulled the plug at the last minute…
Here is what the jerseys were supposed to look like
pic.twitter.com/8dBGhx6CLe
— Complex Sneakers (@ComplexSneakers) January 22, 2025
“In celebration of 40 years of Air Jordan, the Jordan Brand tried to get its Jumpman logo “banned” on the court, but the NBA pulled the plug at the last minute… Here is what the jerseys were supposed to look like,” ComplexSneakers tweeted.
The jerseys pictured are for the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics, and, of course, the Chicago Bulls. They all have a Jumpman logo with a black box smacked in the middle, similar to the 1980s ‘banned’ commercial.
While Jordan Brand hasn’t confirmed the botched launch, it tracks because they seem to be trying to celebrate the 40th anniversary in a big way.
Back on Christmas day amid the NBA’s slate of games, sneakerheads perked up their ears when they saw the old commercial of Jordan tossing the ball and the sneakers being censored, with social posts’ caption that read, “You ever wonder…what if Nike hadn’t paid the fine?”
The original post is now deleted, so it could make sense that the move was scrapped as part of the “Origin Story” campaign that dropped prior with the hilarious animated short of how Jordan’s talent led to the 1s becoming a cultural staple.
That is unless it’s a marketing move within a marketing move because if the NBA cut the cord and players still rock the jersey, it’d be recreating another banned moment.
But we’ll just have to see as we await the coming weeks since the Air Jordan 1 “Banned” officially releases on Feb. 14.
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