Back in 1995, Jordan Brand dropped a collection of five Air Jordan 10’s that were called the ‘City Pack’. The five shoes represented the cities of New York, Sacramento, Orlando, Chicago, and Seattle. All the teams in these cities are notable for the times MJ battled with them throughout his career. You may remember that back in 2016 JB dropped a different city collection that was made up of eight cities, some new and old; New York, Charlotte, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Shanghai, Paris and Rio.
Back in 2016 when the second City Pack was released, Brandon Edler, Renick Bowman and myself wanted to put a creative spin on the special pack. Like the original pack that featured cities of the teams that Jordan battled with the most, we decided to add a twist to it, honorable opponents of Jordan that he battled with throughout his career. These Retro 10’s feature the colorways of the teams MJ battled with and the number of the player to to pay homage to them. All images were created by Renick Bowman.
Indiana Pacers - Reggie Miller 31
MJ and Reggie battled for years as the Bulls would play the Pacers multiple times a year and throughout their careers the two of them made some very memorable moments that basketball fans still love to talk about. While Jordan may have gotten the best of his battles with Reggie holding a 32-17 record over him, Miller always seemed to get under Michaels skin. While the two stars would ruthlessly battle each other, there was always a mutual respect between the two. The silver lining for Pacers fans when it comes to these bouts with Jordan is from Game 4 of the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals where Reggie may have shoved off of Jordan to hit the game winning 3 to tie the series 2-2. Alas, the Bulls won the series to then go on their sixth NBA Finals.
Phoenix Suns - Charles Barkley 34
In his prime, Charles Barkley was an absolute force on the basketball court, he wasn’t given the nickname “The Round Mound of Rebound” for nothing. Barkley quickly became one of the NBA's most versatile players and accurate scorers capable of scoring from anywhere on the court and established himself as one of the NBA's premier players. During the 90’s, Barkley and Jordan would face off with each other and every game was a must watch. Their battle during the 1993 NBA Finals had some heated games but Jordan got the best of Barkley and the Suns and went on to win their first Three-peat of MJ’s career. The two had a relationship off the court and the trash talk didn’t end on the hardwood when they both retired, it just transitioned to the golf course.
Cleveland Cavaliers - Craig Ehlo 3
You might be thinking “Why Craig Ehlo?” and that’s a fair question. Ehlo may be MJ’s most famous victim for the historic shot that he hit over him on May 7, 1989 that would eliminate the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5 of the 1989 first-round NBA playoffs series. Moments before Jordan hit the shot Ehlo had given the Cavaliers the lead with three seconds left but in typical Jordan fashion, he had to steal his thunder and send the Cavs home with that last second shot.
Atlanta Hawks - Dominique Wilkins 21
Dominique Wilkins was the star of the Atlanta Hawks and he battled Jordan in the historic 1988 NBA Dunk Contest. The relationship between Wilkins and Jordan started on the hardwood and that dunk contest was a complicated crossroads in the rivalry that spanned both real games and fun contests. What started in the mid 80’s as a Wilkins dominated relationship was starting to shift to a Jordan dominated one in the early 90’s. While Dominque won the ‘85 dunk contest in Indianapolis, Jordan took the crown in ‘88 with the historic free-throw line dunk that people still talk about.
Seattle Supersonics - Gary Payton 20
Gary Payton may have been one of the best trash talkers in the game but he never could seem to get over the mountain that was Michael Jordan. Payton shared a story from his rookie season when Jordan made sure that he guarded GP and said “Leave the f--king rookie to me," after remembering the trash talk that Payton used in the preseason matchup. The stalwarts of 1990s NBA basketball battled a lot over the years, including the 1996 NBA Finals, in which the Bulls edged the Sonics in six games. The two would jaw with each other on the court but there was always a mutual respect once the whistle blew.
Detroit Pistons - Isiah Thomas 11
Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s it was obvious to NBA fans that the Bulls and Pistons were not fans of each other and some of the games between the two were some of the most intense and physical games played. MJ and Isiah Thomas will forever be linked as many believe that Thomas and his "Bad Boy" Detroit Pistons were said to be one of the main obstacles that pushed Jordan to become he best player on the planet. Thomas had been accused of refusing to pass the ball to Jordan in the latter's first All-Star Game in 1985. Jordan responded to the accumulation of Thomas' tactics by allegedly seeing to it that Thomas was left off the '92 "Dream Team" in Barcelona. That teams known as the greatest basketball team put together. After many years of heated battle between the two, some of the most classic and intense NBA games came from this rivalry.
Los Angeles Lakers - Magic Johnson 32
Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan were easily two of the best players to every play the game of basketball and they both knew it. The majority of NBA fans consider Jordan to be the best ever, with Magic being the best point guard ever. When the two met in the 1991 NBA Finals the world tuned in. How could you not watch two of the best face off and watch the greatness that you may never see in your lifetime. That season would turn out to be Magics final season and when the Bulls won the title there was a sense of a passing of the torch from Magic to Michael. The two respected the hell out of each others game but even more than that they respected each other as people.