Michael Jordan, if you haven't noticed, has been out of the game for seemingly an interminable time, but his Jordan Brand is still running strong with retro releases, his Air Jordan line, and the Team Jordan shoes that are released. MJ collected a bunch of young (and old, J-Kidd and Gary Payton) bucks together to represent his brand, not only in basketball, but football, baseball, and boxing. Players aren't the only thing he added. He has six college teams as well under his umbrella. A lot of the Jumpmen, the group of men in basketball, and his colleges, wear this shoe, probably one of the best Jordan Team shoes released in a long while.

The very supportive upper is made of a rich full-grain leather and Nubuck material, along with synthetic quarter panels to provide support and comfort. The Nubuck material is that red pebbled material you see in the picture. It helps to prevent your foot from sliding off the footbed during sharp cuts and stabilize your foot from within. The feel of the leather is great, as it is very high-quality and soft, while the supportive features make your foot feel very stable. Reinforced forefoot overlays use a new Stingray material to enhance durability; those are the silver strips you see running up from the heel. Combined with the hidden lace loops and a thick thermoplastic urethane heel counter, this shoe provides tremendous support. The heel counter protects the heavy work done by the back of the heel and gets some heavy abuse in my b-ball games, but keeps on going strong. Also, the interior of the shoe is made of Sphere material, coddling your foot in unsurpassed comfort and warms your ankle bone to the interior while helping to keep your foot dry from moisture.

The meat of the shoe comes to the double-lasted Phylon midsole. Double-lasted is when they fold the midsole over twice for more durability. This thick midsole holds the full-length Air-Sole unit, albeit encapsulated, meaning that you can't see it. It provides great impact protection when I was soaring high (ok, not high; I'm not Yao Ming) for a rebound and provided a good enough cushioning feel even though the midsole is pretty think. An internal shank plate underneath it all stabilizes your arches and makes for a good heel-to-toe transition.

Usually the outsole is something I don't rave about in a shoe, but this one is particularly cool-looking, yet functional as well. It's made of solid rubber and employs a dual-level herringbone traction pattern that provides excellent traction during all the stop-and-go moves you feet can do. It also wraps high up on the lateral sidewall, providing more durability and protection in that area which a lot of wear and tear is seen. The cool-looking thing is that in the middle of the outsole, it's translucent with a fancy cursive Jordan script running through it. It's shaped in the design similar to the Air Jordan XI's outsole, which is a nice touch back to the heritage of the most popular Air Jordan of all time. The shiny part you see running laterally underneath the pebbled Nubuck upper is a lateral outrigger, which helps to enhance stability, along with being rounded to allow the foot to pivot and roll naturally without hindering movement. I really like the outrigger design that is put on basketball shoes and this one is no different. At the tip is a Jumpman logo in which the basketball the figure is holding rolls all the way to the tip of the toe, so you can see it from the front of the shoe, another design element that is reminiscent of the Air Jordan XII.

As always, there are cool design elements everywhere. An embossed 23 is near the heel, a chrome Jumpman is stitched underneath that, fancy Jordan script on the tongue, and a metal-engraved Jumpman tog is placed on the forefoot lace. This shoe comes in four colors right now. White/royal, black/silver, white-silver/obsidian, and white-silver/red. It's a tremendously elegant and sleek shoe that more than holds its own in the basketball court battles. The only downside might be that light point guards might not want it because of the cushioning selection and it being a bit heavy at 15.4 ounces. But everyone else looking for a great, all-around shoe suitable for all positions other than center, this is a good buy.


Recommended: Yes