46 Awesome Air Jordan PEs Worn By Not-So-Awesome NBA Players

Player-edition Air Jordans should be strictly reserved for the best of the best in the NBA. Sometimes that just isn't the case.

Aug 06, 2013

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Let's get something out of the way right out front: No players in the NBA are actually terrible. All hyperbole aside, even the worst guy to ever play in the NBA would give everyone buckets at the Y or at the local playground. Sure, even Gilbert Arenas can get dunked on once by a nobody, but in the long run professional basketball players are professional basketball players for a reason. Real scrubs don't even get a whiff of the NBA.

Now, all THAT said, Air Jordans in the NBA are a different story. Only the best of the best players in the NBA should get to wear Air Jordans, and only the best of the best of the best should get Air Jordans in their own team colors with their own initials or number or whatever embroidered on them. Clearly this isn't always the case. For example, do you have any idea who those Vs with the number 20 on the heels were made for? Exactly. So check out 46 Awesome Air Jordan PEs Worn By Not-So-Awesome NBA Players and hey, maybe even you can get your own Air Jordan PEs someday.*

 

*Not a chance in hell.

RELATED: The 50 Worst NBA Players to Wear Air Jordans

RELATED: The 20 Athletes With the Greatest Jordan Player Editions

Juwan Howard

Notable Sneakers: Air Jordan II, Air Jordan VIII, Air Jordan XIII
Years Active: 1994-present
Stats: 13.4 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 2.2 APG

Juwan Howard isn't bad per se—no one lasts in the NBA as long as he has by being bad. (Heck, no one lasts as long in the NBA as long as he has, period.) But even though his nine-figure contract days are long over and he earned his only All-Star berth way back in 1996, Juwan still not only has a roster spot, but he still gets PEs—which he didn't even start getting until late in his career. He also got a ring last year. Not bad, old man.

Josh Howard

Notable Sneakers: Air Jordan II, Air Jordan VIII, Air Jordan 2012
Years Active: 2003-present
Stats: 14.3 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 1.6 APG

Remember Josh Howard? He was an All-Star in 2007, started 76 games for the Mavs in '07-08 and has played in just 159 games since. Last season he played in all of 11 games for the 31-51 Minnesota Timberwolves. Most professionals who fall off this hard are stuntmen. But, say it with us, he got them Js tho. (Chances are you remember his PEs more than you remember him.)

Bobby Simmons

Notable Sneakers: Air Jordan V, Air Jordan VIII, Air Jordan XIII
Years Active: 2001-2012
Stats: 9.0 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 1.5 APG

Winning the NBA's Most Improved Player award isn't always a death knell—witness for example Jermaine O'Neal and Tracy McGrady in back-to-back seasons—but all too often it's represented a career's brightest moment. Because for every Jermaine or T-Mac, there's been an Ike Austin, a Hedo Turkoglu, a Bobby Simmons. Simmons earned the award after an '04-05 season with the Clippers that saw his scoring average jump from 7.8 to 16.4 ppg. He in turn jumped to the Milwaukee Bucks on a five-year, $47 million deal, averaged a respectable if unspectacular 13.4 ppg the following season, then missed the entire '06-07 season with an ankle injury. He's been persona non grata ever since—and hasn't played in the NBA since April of 2012—but the PEs continued to flow for a while. Good thing he went to Simeon and DePaul.

Fred Jones

Notable Sneakers: Air Jordan V, Air Jordan XIII, Air Jordan XIV
Years Active: 2002-2009
Stats: 7.5 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 2.3 APG

Who? FRED JOOOOOOOOOONES! It's totally cool if you have no idea who Fred Jones is. His career high PPG was 10.6 in '04-05, he was never a regular starter for anyone, and his greatest accomplishment was trying an easier dunk than Jason Richardson in the finals of the 2004 Slam Dunk contest. He also must have had photos of MJ wearing normal jeans or something, because there's no other explanation for his getting PE Jordan Vs.

Mickael Pietrus

Notable Sneakers: Air Jordan V, Air Jordan XIII, Air Jordan XIV
Years Active: 2003-present
Stats: 8.3 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 0.8 APG

Mickael Pietrus is 6-6, he's an NBA player (sort of), and his name is Mickael. Other than that, all similarities to Michael Jordan are purely nonexistent. Pietrus earned his money and reputation as a defensive standout on the Golden State Warriors, which wasn't that hard to do on a team that also featured Baron Davis, Troy Murphy and Al Harrington. He has been named to exactly zero All-Defensive teams. For that, he's earned roughly $35 million and received some truly excellent Jordan PEs (including a pair of Vs that looked like Laneys with a reflective tongue). Now he's with PEAK, which seems more his speed.

Darius Miles

Notable Sneakers: Air Jordan VIII, Air Jordan IX
Years Active: 2000-2009
Stats: 10.1 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 1.9 APG

Here's a sobering thought: Darius Miles is just 31 years old. The highest draft pick out of high school ever (3rd overall) at the time, Miles joined the Clippers in 2000 and earned all-rookie honors. He, along with Quentin Richardson, were supposed to usher Jordan Brand into the next millenium. Instead Miles wound up undergoing microfracture surgery before he turned 25, effectively ending his career before it even started. At least we'll always have his Jordan IX Cavs PEs.

Jared Jeffries

Notable Sneakers: Air Jordan II Low, Air Jordan VIII Low, Air Jordan XX3 Low
Years Active: 2002-present
Stats: 4.8 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 1.3 APG

Has any NBA player had his game rationalized more than Jared Jeffries? He's considered a "glue guy," an invaluable defensive presence, a guy who leaves everything on the floor. He's also a guy who's scored 3,003 career points to go with 1,529 career fouls. And this is a guy who got some absolute classic Knicks PEs. Patrick Ewing didn't get sent home early every year for this.

Harold Miner

Notable Sneakers: Air Jordan IX, Air Jordan X
Years Active: 1992-1996
Stats: 9.0 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 1.2 APG

It's kind of weird that a guy nicknamed "Baby Jordan" ever got Air Jordan PEs to begin with. That seems to go against Mike's usual MO, which would be a) make sure the kid wasn't even allowed to buy Air Jordans and b) dropping 50 on him whenever possible. But Harold Miner did indeed get Air Jordan PEs—his "Chicago" Xs with the 32 on the side remain a grail to many. Too bad his two Slam Dunk championships are about the only other thing he ever shared with MJ.

Derek Anderson

Notable Sneakers: Air Jordan II Low, Air Jordan V Low, Air Jordan XI Low, Air Jordan XII Low
Years Active: 1997-2008
Stats: 12.0 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 3.4 APG

The embroidery on his shoes says it all, really: LOYAL1. Derek Anderson may have gone from NCAA star to NBA journeyman, but Jordan kept him laced in PE lowtops throughout his career, with everything from IIs to Vs to Concord XIs. If you think Mike Bibby has consistently had the best Jordan lows in the game, you must have forgot. And peep the lasered IVs.

Quentin Richardson

Notable Sneakers: Air Jordan II, Air Jordan V, Air Jordan VIII, Air Jordan IX, Air Jordan XIII, Air Jordan XIV, Air Jordan XVI, Air Jordan XX1
Years Active: 2000-present
Stats: 10.3 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 1.5 APG

Want Jordan PEs for life? Here's the secret: Be from Chicago. It worked for Michael Finley, it worked for Juwan Howard, and it sure worked for Quentin Richardson. Q hasn't averaged double-digit points since the 2008-09 season, and he's played for a mess of teams since coming up as a Clipper with Darius Miles. But hey, all that means is more colorways. It's entirely possible that Q has gotten more PE Jordans than anyone ever, and if he plays much longer, he'll start getting PE retros of models he got PEs of when they were new. Crazy.

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