The Best Air Jordans of 2020

11.

It’s a safe bet Air Jordans won’t go out of style during any of our lifetimes. Yet, Retro 1s and high-profile collabs aside, it felt like enthusiasm was waning on the line a bit over the last few years. It wasn’t long ago that you could pick up a once-coveted original colorway days after release. Then, in 2020, while the world was reeling in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a saving grace came in the form of ESPN’s The Last Dance docuseries. The nostalgia-packed doc saw interest in Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls cohort skyrocket. This of course extended to Jordan sneakers, which were presented in a new light for the younger audience and reilluminated for older fans. Never-before-seen footage of MJ lacing deadstock pairs of OGs and then putting in work on the court just hits different than grainy YouTube clips.

With interest in the line reinvigorated, the brand had a strong rotation of product to keep the momentum going. There was the return of the "DMP" Jordan 6, a sneaker that celebrated Jordan's first championship win. There were collabs ranging from the usual suspects like Off-White and Union, along with a step into the haute couture realm with Dior. The brand even brought back the "Banned" Air Ship sneakers, a pair that once seemed like it would go unacknowledged.

These are Complex's picks for the 10 best Air Jordan drops of 2020. —Riley Jones

10.Air Jordan 35

Release Date: October 17

Price: $200

The Air Jordan 35 is a silhouette that was newly introduced in 2020. Unlike every other shoe on this list, most people aren’t paying above retail for it, or eagerly staring at their SNKRS app anticipating the next Air Jordan 35 drop. Yet, the Air Jordan legacy is so important that every year, even if only for a day, we all care about the latest model being added to the catalog. What the 35 lacks in mainstream appeal, it makes up for on the basketball court. There’s a reason NBA superstars like Jayson Tatum and Zion Williamson lace them up every night. They’re among the best, if not the best, performance basketball sneakers on the market today, just as a shoe bearing Michael Jordan’s name should be. Hype might not be the goal, but Jordan Brand has still tried to give fans of the Air Jordan 5-inspired design some more limited offerings along the way. Fragment’s Hiroshi Fujiwara released his own collab back in October. Williamson’s “Bayou Boys” theme was also given a sequel colorway that appeared to be well-received. Performance basketball sneakers might not hold the same stake in the casual market as they once did, but the Air Jordan 35 proves that if a shoe is made well and serves its intended purpose, sometimes that’s all that matters. —Mike DeStefano

9.Air Jordan 13 'Flint'

Release Date: May 30

Price: $190

The “Flint” (short for "Flint Grey") 13 is one of the best non-Chicago Bulls OG Air Jordans of all time. It’s up there in a class with the “Military Blue” Air Jordan 4, the “Bordeaux” Air Jordan 7, and the “Aqua” Air Jordan 8. Yet despite being loved by fans from the late ’90s era, the “Flint” 13 is a pair that never seemed to get the attention it deserved. There was one well-received retro in 2005, but years later, the brand stripped away one of the sneaker’s defining features with a 2010 re-release that lacked reflective details on the side panels. The change was widely maligned by enthusiasts, but it still took 10 years for the pair to come back in its original form. Finally, this year, the sneaker resurfaced in all of its 3M glory, and unsurprisingly sold out on Day 1. If there’s one knock on these, it’s a shame COVID is keeping Cowboys fans from getting fits off in the shoes at AT&T Stadium. —Riley Jones

8.Nike Air Ship Pro 'Banned'

Release Date: August 1

Price: €200

The sneaker that started it all. No, not the Air Jordan 1. Jordan Brand has long told the story that Michael Jordan was fined by the NBA for wearing a pair of black/red Air Jordan 1s, but internet sleuths have debunked that notion, citing that Jordan was wearing an unremarkable sneaker at the time, the Air Ship. Neither Nike nor Jordan Brand has ever acknowledged the Ship, as it would likely jeopardize the foundation the company’s lore was built upon—until 2020. Sort of. Jordan Brand finally brought back the Ship this year, but did so in a way that people wouldn’t notice. It was almost to say, “Hey, we know this shoe exists.” And that was the extent of it. The shoe released at the top of the year at All-Star Weekend in a white/red colorway that no one was asking for, in a pack with an Air Jordan 1 that, once again, no one was asking for. Then with no official press release, Back Door Bottega, a shop in Bologna, Italy, finally released the "Banned" shoe. With no more rhyme or reason. It was also updated with React cushioning. Some might think it’s cool, some might think it sucked. We’ll let you decide. But the shoe is important, and it came out, and that’s why it made the list. —Matt Welty

7.Air Jordan 5 'Fire Red'

Release Date: May 2

Price: $200

The “Fire Red” Air Jordan 5 that launched in 2020 was far from the first return of the shoe, but it was the most accurate to the original in two decades, and released under the most memorable circumstances. The colorway initially returned in 2000 and actually had Nike Air branding on the heel, but at the time they weren’t known as the “Fire Reds”—that nickname had typically been associated with the OG that featured a black tongue, red midsole, and “23” on the heel. This year’s retro brought back that original branding that had been absent on the most recent release in 2013, flipped the nickname, and shock-dropped in the midst of the most unexpected situation. As the coronavirus pandemic had locked down much of the United States (and the rest of the world), the airing of the 10-part The Last Dance Michael Jordan documentary was moved up to entertain an audience held captive by mandated quarantines. A broader release of the sneaker followed, but the surprise launch during the premiere of what quickly became required viewing, was a welcome distraction in an unprecedented time. —Zac Dubasik

6.Air Jordan 6 'DMP'

Release Date: April 18

Price: $200

This is one of the shoes that started it all for the modern Air Jordan craze and sneaker hype in general. First released in 2006, the “Defining Moments Pack” was the first time Jordan Brand sold two sneakers at once and featured a black/gold Air Jordan 6 and an Air Jordan 11 “Concord” with a gold Jumpman logo. The pack retailed for $296 and sold out instantly across the country, in an era (before StockX) where you had to physically go to malls and the sneakers were released on a first-come, first-serve basis. The resale value on the shoes jumped. People were trying to sell their packs on NikeTalk for $1,000. B-grades of the 11s hit outlets, but the shoes remained grails. It was also proof that Jordan Brand could sell non-OG colorways of their sneakers and have people care just as much as they did about the originals. Jordan Brand decided to re-release the 6s this year, and it struck the right chord of nostalgia. It brought back the feeling for many and gave them access to a long-wanted grail. —Matt Welty

5.Air Jordan 4 'Fire Red'

Release Date: November 28

Price: $200

For the first time since 1989, the “Fire Red” Air Jordan 4 returned with Nike Air branding this year. Admittedly overshadowed by the sneaker’s “White/Cement” and “Bred” colorways, the “Fire Red” shouldn’t be ignored. It was one of the original pairs laced up by MJ during his formative years and has aged just as well as the aforementioned styles. If anything, subpar retros of this color may have dampened enthusiasm, but that’s even more reason to celebrate the fact that they’re finally back in proper form. This year has seen its share of excellent Air Jordan 4s—there are three in this Top 10 alone—and this “Fire Red” Retro is proof that the sneaker’s original '89 makeups can stand toe-to-toe with today’s hyped collaborations from the likes of Off-White and Union. For a more in-depth look at the “Fire Red” Air Jordan 4 and why its return is so important, click here. —Riley Jones

4.Dior x Air Jordan 1

Release Date: April 18

Price: $2,200

Easily one of the most polarizing sneakers of 2020, you are either going to hear people saying it’s awful or that it is the sneaker of the year. And that’s why it finds its way about halfway through our list. Unattainable by design, Dior’s Jordan 1 collab is one of those sneakers that most “real” people like you and me cannot come close to owning. It seems like this one is reserved for the Travis Scotts, Fat Joes, and Sue Birds of the world, or those willing to drop tens of thousands of dollars on ’em. For months we heard rumblings of the collab being on its way, but eventually the Jumpman tactically called upon its most influential collaborator, Travis Scott, to debut the shoe on his IG story. They quickly hit the Dior fashion runway that same night and only picked up steam from there. Hate it or love it, this Jordan has to be commended for its simple and clean look as well as its ability to garner a visceral feeling (whether good or bad) from just about everyone. —Ben Felderstein

3.Off-White x Air Jordan 4

Release Date: July 25

Price: $200

Virgil Abloh’s flip on the Air Jordan 4 offered many of the marquee elements of his previous work with Nike and Jordan Brand, like deconstructed details and bold typography graphics, but it managed to feel like more than “just” another Off-White collab. Closer inspection of the women’s model revealed a far more complex makeup than the clean and largely tonal colorway implied in its runway debut at the Off-White Fall/Winter 2020/2021 womenswear show at Paris Fashion Week. Abloh utilized a careful selection of translucent materials to reveal layers of detail that he hadn’t shown on past releases, while still leaving the basic shape and design of the beloved Air Jordan 4 intact. And rather than being an empty gesture of just calling it a women’s model that released in unisex sizing, Abloh and Nike gave women first dibs on the SNKRS app by granting them early access to the collab. —Zac Dubasik

2.Union x Air Jordan 4

Release Date: August 29

Price: $250

Admit it, you hated these sneakers at first. You saw the leaked images online and wondered why their tongues looked so stunted, why their materials looked so bootleg. You liked the Union x Air Jordan 1 from 2018, but felt that this sneaker went too far with its liberties. Was it even an Air Jordan 4 anymore? But that was before you really understood it.

To understand the Union x Air Jordan 4 is to understand the regard that Chris Gibbs, the owner of Union in Los Angeles, holds his Jordans in. His reverence is not precious. It is colored by his own experiences with the shoe. Gibbs used to fold his tongues down to flip the inner "Air Jordan" branding out, so he had the factories sew the tongue down on his version of the Jordan 4. (Don't worry, you can cut the stitches out and turn them regular.) He also edited the suede and mesh equations, searching for what he felt was a better balance with those materials. Yes, he altered an icon, but study the sneaker and you'll see that it's a labor of love. —Brendan Dunne

1.Off-White x Air Jordan 5

Release Date: February 15

Price: $200

Virgil Abloh is by now well acquainted with the hype cycle that comes with releasing a limited pair of sneakers with Nike or Jordan Brand. It generally starts well before you actually want it to start, when a leaked photo that looks like it was taken with a potato tells the product's story before its designer can. Hasty opinions are already forming at that point—usually negative ones. It's a process he's been through plenty of times. It's a standard he poked holes in with the Off-White x Air Jordan 5, a postmodern sort of sneaker that says it is not finished when the leaked images hit social media, or even when you open the box for the first time.

"The end of the process is supposed to be made by the user themselves, and that's to cut out the holes," Abloh told Complex in an interview this fall. The holes extend the design timeline of the shoe, empowering the wearer to literally do it themselves. They work as metaphor, too, an unexpected representation of the "Air" in Air Jordan. They are unfinished, a statement that even a retro model may still have something to offer decades later. —Brendan Dunne