I am not a sneakerhead, but I am aware, there is a level of clowning that goes on if you walk into your school rocking Team Jordan sneakers.
For those who don’t know, Jordan Brand became a spinoff brand from NIKE back in the mid-90s and early 2000s, so beyond the iconic Air Jordan line, they had to create some new products for the new athletes they sponsored.
That is when they came up with the Team Jordan sneaker line. They aren’t Air Jordans, but Jordan affiliated. Weartesters.com breaks it down more.
Team Jordan shoes appeared back in the mid-90s. Jordan Brand was preparing to separate from Nike. MJ’s brand would remain under Nike’s umbrella, but it would become its own entity. This meant creating a fully-fledged product line. As part of this expansion, the idea of launching “team shoes” came up. Jordan Brand intended to offer more generally accessible, top-notch performance shoes that took inspiration from the year’s flagship model.
Jordan Brand finally spun off from Nike in 1997 and the Team Jordan concept wasn’t an immediate success. The concept was divisive: on one hand, some sneaker fans thought these shoes were just “knock-off Jordans” while others were glad to get their hands on a Jordan shoe at a reasonable price.
You can find Team Jordans in discount stores like Marshals, Famous Footwear, or the NIKE Outlet places like that. They usually are cheaper than your average Air Jordans.
A mom not knowing anything about sneakers got her daughter a cute pair of Team Jordans sneakers for Christmas. There is nothing wrong with them, and I assume she got them because of the color.
The kid’s dad stepped in and immediately vetoed the gift out of fear the kids at her school would clown her.
Think about it like this, Team Jordans in 2021 would be like someone my age wearing Payless sneakers in 2000. It isn’t fair, but that is how kids are these days.
Flip the pages for the funny Twitter reactions to the story.