15 NBA Players Wearing Air Jordans Against Michael Jordan

To paraphrase the man Jim Croce, you don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't spit into the wind, you don't pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger, and you don't wear Air Jordans while playing against Michael Jordan. At least not if you know what's good for you. That being said, many players in the NBA did just that — some more than once — and, in most cases, suffered the consequences. Check out 15 Players Wearing Air Jordans Against Michael Jordan and see what happened.

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Player: Kevin Garnett
Date: 02/16/1996

Before Kevin Garnett started making the rounds with footwear companies, the fresh-out-of-high-school star squared up with Michael Jordan in his rookie year wearing the same sneakers as MJ, the Air Jordan XI. KG opted for the Columbias, while Jordan was in the Concords. MJ got the best of the battle by scoring 35 compared to Garnett's 16. Isaiah (J.R.) Rider dropped in 29 for the Wolves and Scottie Pippen grabbed player of the game honors with 29 as the Bulls scooted out of Minnesota with a 103-100 victory.

Player: Lamar Odom
Date: 2/12/2003

Lamar Odom is no stranger to wearing Jordans and back in February of 2003, Odom laced up a pair of black and white Air Jordan IXs to face MJ and the Wizards in Los Angeles. Odom's Jordans may have outshined Michael's XVIIIs, but MJ outscored Lamar 23-19 and the Wizards eked out a 108-104 victory.

Player: Nick Anderson
Date: 11/14/1995

During the mid-'90s, the Bulls and Magic were the matchup to watch as a sneakerhead. Between Michael's Air Jordans, Penny Hardaway's Nikes and Shaq's Reeboks, it was footwear heaven — and then you had Nick Anderson's player-exclusive Jordans on top of that. The matchups were always well-fought but in November of 1995, Anderson's 16 points in the Air Jordan XI Columbias, led Orlando to a victory at home over MJ's Concords and his 23 points.

Player: Gerald Wallace
Date: 2/23/2011

MJ may have switched the style up in recent years, leaning on his preference for "mom jeans" over gym shorts, but every once in a while he still gives the younguns a run during Bobcats practice. In this case, high-flier Gerald Wallace faces up with the GOAT in some Jordan Retro XIII "Playoffs" but it was late February, which we all know is signature Jordan season, so Michael was on to the Air Jordan 2011. Now if we could just find out if he had the "Quick" or "Explosive" midsoles in place.

Player: Kobe Bryant
Date: 2/9/2003

The 2003 All Star Game turned out to be more of an homage to Michael Jordan than anything. Kobe Bryant rocked the True Blue Air Jordan III, while MJ sported the Air Jordan XVIII. Aside from MJ shedding tears while Mariah Carey performed at halftime, the game was full of foolery and fun, a perfect way for His Airness to go out. Though Kevin Garnett led the West to a double overtime victory, spoiling MJ's final All Star appearance.

Player: Kobe Bryant
Date: 3/23/2003

One of the few times that MJ was outplayed in his own shoes came at the hands of none other than Kobe Bryant. While Kobe was in between sneaker deals, he was hooked up with a few Lakers-themed Air Jordans. In March of 2003, against MJ and the Washington Wizards, Bryant laced up the Air Jordan VIII and then proceeded to light up Jordan and the Wizards for 55 points in Los Angeles. Well played, Kobe.

Player: Ron Artest
Date: 11/26/2002

Before Ron Artest decided to take out his frustrations on Indiana fans, James Harden and his latest intentional "inadvertent" elbow recipient, Jeremy Lin, Artest was a regular in Jordans. In this matchup against MJ, Artest opted for the Air Jordan VI Low "White/University Blue" colorway. While MJ, as was common during his Wizards years, opted for the Air Jordan III True Blue colorway. MJ dropped in 28 to lead the Wizards but Artest's 13 ended up on the winning side, as the Pacers won 88-84.

Player: Darius Miles
Date: 11/9/2002

Early in the 2002 season without much importance to the game (has there ever been importance to Wizards games?), MJ and his Washington teammates headed to Cleveland to take on the Cavaliers. Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, LeBron was still in high school and the only highlight of the 14-point loss to the Wizards was Darius Miles' Air Jordan IX PEs. MJ, wearing Air Jordan XVII "Coppers" and Miles both put up 12 points, so yeah, the kicks were definitely the most memorable.

Player: Ron Artest
Date: 1/19/2002

Ron Artest — as a Bull, no less — wore the Air Jordan IX against Michael Jordan in the Air Jordan XVII in 2002. The Wizards won 77-69. Clearly, the sneakers are the only thing worth remembering.

Player: Kobe Bryant
Date: 11/8/2002

The Kobe versus Michael comparisons will never end, and part of the reason is because of images like this. In 2002, the Lakers and Bryant went in to Washington early in the season. Kobe was free of a sneaker deal and exploring his options, meaning, brands were throwing everything they could his way in hopes of signing him. The Air Jordan VII was done up in Lakers colors for Bryant, while MJ was in the current model at the time, the Air Jordan XVII+. Kobe dropped in 27 and Jordan put up 25 off the bench and the Wizards walked away victorious.

Player: Ray Allen
Date: 11/14/2001

Ray Allen's PE game is second to none. In fact, it may even be better than MJ's considering Michael always wore the flagship colorways. Back in '01 Ray was with the Bucks and had a fresh pair of Air Jordan XVIs with his name and number stitched onto the outer wrap. He faced Jordan and the Wizards and even though MJ won the scoring battle 31-22, Ray's nine assists helped lead the Bucks to victory.

Player: Fred Jones
Date: 1/4/2003

Fred Jones is most remembered for winning the Slam Dunk Contest in 2004 (and as one of the worst players to wear Air Jordans), but he did have a solid amount of PE colorways. In January of 2003, he lit up the Wizards for a whopping four points in 25 minutes wearing Air Jordan IX PEs. Sadly for Jones, MJ led Washington with 44 points in a double overtime victory wearing the Air Jordan XVIII.

Player: Hubert Davis
Date: 4/16/1995

When Michael decided to return to the NBA from his stint as a baseball player, Jordan Brand had the Air Jordan X already in production. It was one of the first times that other teams and their players had exclusive colorways of Michael's Air Jordans. Hubert Davis was laced with a pair of the original Air Jordan X "Knicks" colorways in 1995 and faced MJ in them while New York headed to Chicago to take on the Bulls. MJ had his number 45 jersey on but dropped 28 points like the 23 of old. Davis, on the other hand, only scored seven in the Knicks loss.

Player: Quentin Richardson
Date: 2/12/2003

Quentin Richardson is no stranger to getting his own Air Jordan colorways but in 2003 he laced up the True Blue Air Jordan IIIs as the Clippers hosted MJ and the Washington Wizards. Jordan showed up Q-Rich with 23 points and 12 dishes wearing the white and royal colorway of the Air Jordan XVIII. Q-Rich came off the bench for the Clippers and had 10 points. But he got them Js though!

Player: Ray Allen
Date: 1/2/1998

For the up-and-coming sneaker enthusiasts, Ray Allen is known for his own exclusive Jordans but back in the day, before he was winning championships, he was still learning the ropes. He was on Team Jordan even if his own team, the Milwaukee Bucks at the time, was battling MJ on the court. In this case, Sugar Ray was rockin' the Air Jordan Team, not only was he outshined by MJ's Air Jordan XIIIs, Jordan dropped 44 points and the Bulls went on to win. All of Chicago rejoiced, thanks to the free tacos they were about to get with the Bulls 114-100 victory.