Jordan Brand is getting you ready for Father’s Day a whole month early.
This weekend, Jordan Brand will launch the “World’s Best Dad” Air Jordan 3. The sneaker comes in what feels like classic colorblocking that will surely please the father figures in your life. That said, the sneakers do retell a powerful and vulnerable chapter from Michael Jordan’s life.
This famous photo, displaying Jordan in a vulnerable state after winning the 1996 NBA Finals, is the inspiration behind the sneaker. Michael Jordan tragically lost his father in 1993. As we all know, the loss of his father contributed to Jordan stepping away from basketball. Three years later, though, Jordan was back at the top of the basketball mountain, but this time it was different.
This championship win would be the first of Jordan’s career without his father there to celebrate. The fact that the game and the season ended on Father’s Day furthered the emotional toll it must have taken on Jordan. After closing out the series against the Super Sonics, an emotional Jordan ran to the locker room. He collapsed and finally released the weight on his shoulders. The vulnerable display has to this day been held as one of the most iconic moments of Jordan’s career, as strange as that may sound. Jordan was always known to be ultra competitive that day, though, fans saw a new side of him.
That iconic photo is now being captured by the Air Jordan 3. This twist on the classic Bulls colorway is rendered in premium leather and layered with elephant print overlays that mimic the locker room from that fated night. The colorway is what you would expect of a classic Air Jordan 3, but it is the story that makes it truly special.
This one goes out to all the father figures who inspire us to keep chasing our dreams and who cheer us on every day. The Air Jordan 3 ” World’s Best Dad” launches tomorrow, May 16th, via Nike and participating Jordan retailers like Foot Locker.
Photo courtesy of Nice Kicks
