Air Jordan XXXVII (37) first look…

[hitman243]

I’ve only hooped in 2 pairs of retros, and one of those times was only because I forgot my shoes at home. First pair was the 2000 Concords. Meh. Second time was the first retro of the True Blue 3s. Those tore up the arches of my feet. Lol

2000 version was not nearly as padded/supportive as the OG's which were decent for balling. Similar to 10s in performance but not as good as the zoom models.

 

[MoneyAmeer]

 

[jshortt]

Are we really crapping on the performance of the OG's based on the performance of a gutted retro? Can't speak to the 3's, but OG 4 and 5 cushioning was unmatched at the time. Plus the addition of herringbone to the outsoles of those models was huge for traction.

 

[JRepp23]

Are we really crapping on the performance of the OG's based on the performance of a gutted retro?

From what I see they are praising the OG 7.

 

[SR-71]

Just to set the record straight, one of the reasons MJ used to wear new shoes every game was because most of the time his game shoes were thrashed, as seen on this picture (and many others), quite often they were so beat up after that they wouldn't have lasted another game.
This has been well documented before.

He often gave his game shoes to charities or to people after games as ya'll already know. And some of the ones that survived best were used for subsequent practices, as opposed to today where many players like to break in their shoes before wearing them in games.

I don't believe the 37 are worse than any other before because of a random issue. The same thing happens with cars, blenders, iphones or you name it, cheap or expensive.

 

[sneeker]

Just to set the record straight, one of the reasons MJ used to wear new shoes every game was because most of the time his game shoes were thrashed, as seen on this picture (and many others), quite often they were so beat up after that they wouldn't have lasted another game.
This has been well documented before.

He often gave his game shoes to charities or to people after games as ya'll already know. And some of the ones that survived best were used for subsequent practices, as opposed to today where many players like to break in their shoes before wearing them in games.

I don't believe the 37 are worse than any other before because of a random issue. The same thing happens with cars, blenders, iphones or you name it, cheap or expensive.

just a question, during MJ's time, how many times did he have shoes ripped that badly?

also, beaten up shoe is different from a broken shoe.

 

[SR-71]

just a question, during MJ's time, how many times did he have shoes ripped that badly?

also, beaten up shoe is different from a broken shoe.

As far as I can remember, none. But according to reports, some shoes were pretty much unusable anymore after games and it happened on a few occasions that he had to change shoes at halftime.

Question: how many players besides MJ were authorized by Nike to wear Air Jordans during NBA games before he first retired? Do you have any idea?

After he came back, starting with the Jordan 10, only select few were picked by the man himself to wear J's during the season. All of the other NBA players strictly didn't have permission to wear J's during NBA games.

In the next 10 years the number, whilst still very limited, grew up gradually but slowly.

Sometime after MJ last retired it expanded to what it is now and today things have gone exponentially where there's probably on average more than one player per team wearing the newest J's on any given nite.
Nike doesn't recommend to pro players wearing shoes past x amount of times and a good number of them don't respect the prescription because either A) they don't have a shoe deal with Nike or B) they prefer the feel of broken in shoes for games or C) they're just too superstitious to change shoes when time comes. So most of them don't wear a fresh new pair every game, on top of that many of them aren't even JB select athletes, so they just do whatever they want.

Now how many NCAA teams and or players wearing Air Jordans compared to 30 years ago?

Is the average NBA player heavier and more explosive than ever before today?

The bigger the players sample, the bigger the exposure, the bigger the stress on equipment, all that added up together the more chances this will happen again with any shoe, any brand, period.

Before jumping the gun folks, we should consider all the facts and not forget to put things into context, that's all I'm saying.

I really don't care about having the last word on this, people can have it and debate all they want.

Cheers!

 

[sneeker]

As far as I can remember, none. But according to reports, some shoes were pretty much unusable anymore after games and it happened on a few occasions that he had to change shoes at halftime.

Question: how many players besides MJ were authorized by Nike to wear Air Jordans during NBA games before he first retired? Do you have any idea?

After he came back, starting with the Jordan 10, only select few were picked by the man himself to wear J's during the season. All of the other NBA players strictly didn't have permission to wear J's during NBA games.

In the next 10 years the number, whilst still very limited, grew up gradually but slowly.

Sometime after MJ last retired it expanded to what it is now and today things have gone exponentially where there's probably on average more than one player per team wearing the newest J's on any given nite.
Nike doesn't recommend to pro players wearing shoes past x amount of times and a good number of them don't respect the prescription because either A) they don't have a shoe deal with Nike or B) they prefer the feel of broken in shoes for games or C) they're just too superstitious to change shoes when time comes. So most of them don't wear a fresh new pair every game, on top of that many of them aren't even JB select athletes, so they just do whatever they want.

Now how many NCAA teams and or players wearing Air Jordans compared to 30 years ago?

Is the average NBA player heavier and more explosive than ever before today?

The bigger the players sample, the bigger the exposure, the bigger the stress on equipment, all that added up together the more chances this will happen again with any shoe, any brand, period.

Before jumping the gun folks, we should consider all the facts and not forget to put things into context, that's all I'm saying.

I really don't care about having the last word on this, people can have it and debate all they want.

Cheers!

well that's the funny part about the sample size argument, some promoters of the shoe were making excuses about, pro players are different than your regular consumer which made such incident negligible? then revert to sample sizing? this again is another bothersome scenario if people see that promoters are jumping from one excuse to another. haven't they have quality control or testing labs that"guarantee" such situations don't happen? JB has a few shares of misses in the IQ and design department from the moment that MJ retired, adding the fact that these shoes are now massively manufactured to places where QC can be questionable. on the otherhand, the selection of materials and construct for the shoe was already being questioned to begin with, so those concerns didn't really began with such incident but pretty much just strengthening the impression that was already circulating.

not sure why JB also moved away from the eclipse plate design of the 35 or why it quite ended sooner or doesn't look that as heavily used by pro players but I know there were a significant number of consumers that have issues with their arch after using the 35. so whether these incidents are isolated or not, it is still a concern regardless of sample size.

 

[sk33termcg33]

I don’t think we can call these a design “flaw” just yet - that would mean numerous pairs are exploding and the weave is failing across the board. We have seen numerous players in these since the summer and this is the first case of any upper coming apart right? Not saying I defend JB - in fact, I’ve been one of the biggest critics of the 37 since day 1 lol. But, I don’t think it’s as big of a deal as some are making it to be… yet.

 

[sneeker]

I don’t think we can call these a design “flaw” just yet - that would mean numerous pairs are exploding and the weave is failing across the board. We have seen numerous players in these since the summer and this is the first case of any upper coming apart right? Not saying I defend JB - in fact, I’ve been one of the biggest critics of the 37 since day 1 lol. But, I don’t think it’s as big of a deal as some are making it to be… yet.

fair point, although it does cast a doubt on the quality of the shoe. I believe the Zion incident made the PGs less enticing after that. I forgot which shoe was worn during the summer league that had some similar incident with some other players or was it the PG shoe as well?

 

[talonmarko]

fair point, although it does cast a doubt of the quality of the shoe. I believe the Zion incident made the PGs less enticing after that. I forgot which shoe was worn during the summer league that had some similar incident with some other players or was it the PG shoe as well?

I think it was a Zion 1, I could be wrong!

 

[jshortt]

From what I see they are praising the OG 7.

Not talking about the 7's. I'm talking about the last page were people were acting like several OG models weren't great for their time.

 

[SR-71]

... if people see that promoters are jumping from one excuse to another.

not sure if you comment was just a general one or if that included me? but so far, if you read back this thread, you'll see I haven't been the most enthusiastic about the 37's, rather far from it, so nah I don't consider myself a promoter. I've been more critical about this one than any other shoe since the 33', including retros. I just ordered my 1st pair last week because I love the colorway and I wanna try 'em out on court, but I am still not sold. Maybe the 37 will be an acquired taste, maybe not. I'll reserve judgement for later.

haven't they have quality control or testing labs that"guarantee" such situations don't happen?

While I agree that QC control SHOULD be better in some instances and JB quality control varies alot from one factory to another or from one model to another(especially with retros), no matter what you do, no QC or testing procedure can be 100% fail proof...go ask the automotive industry where they test stuff like you wouldn't believe. Why so many recalls and problems with initial quality, why so many guaranty claims? For one there are way too many variables and most of the time the difference comes down to milimeters and minute details. Next corporations are willing to live with that 1-3% fail rate overall in general and I guess that Nike is probably no different than any other company out there.

A good friend of mine is a world renown expert senior chief engineer in cell phones architecture(hardware) design and testing, probably the best in the business and his job is to ensure that all bases are covered.
He taught me alot about QC procedures and product testing. If only people had any idea how complicated and rigorous it is developing a new product or even changing just one aspect sometimes, it's mindblowing. No matter what you do, how much you plan, how much or how long you test, there will always be a fail rate with the end product.

Again not defending JB, just stating facts and trying to remain unbiased when it comes to conclusions.

That being said, remaining issues are NO less frustrating to the end user/customer, myself included, especially when it is something we are passionate about and it is geared to be at the very top of the food chain of bball sneakers, retailing for big dollars.

 

[airsully23]

Should you continue to sell a shoe that has known dangerous design flaws ?
Interested to see who will take the risk and wear them

 

[noblekane]

Question: how many players besides MJ were authorized by Nike to wear Air Jordans during NBA games before he first retired? Do you have any idea?

After he came back, starting with the Jordan 10, only select few were picked by the man himself to wear J's during the season. All of the other NBA players strictly didn't have permission to wear J's during NBA games.

In the next 10 years the number, whilst still very limited, grew up gradually but slowly.

Sometime after MJ last retired it expanded to what it is now and today things have gone exponentially where there's probably on average more than one player per team wearing the newest J's on any given nite.
Nike doesn't recommend to pro players wearing shoes past x amount of times and a good number of them don't respect the prescription because either A) they don't have a shoe deal with Nike or B) they prefer the feel of broken in shoes for games or C) they're just too superstitious to change shoes when time comes. So most of them don't wear a fresh new pair every game, on top of that many of them aren't even JB select athletes, so they just do whatever they want.

Now how many NCAA teams and or players wearing Air Jordans compared to 30 years

i believe a few players wore the 4 when mj was still playing.

also players wore the 9 while mj was retired

because only a hand few wore the 4 while mj played id think they would have had to been friends with mj or ask permission from mj himself.

also back then in the 80's it probably was frowned upon wearing a rivals signature shoe

 

[ill4eva]

i believe a few players wore the 4 when mj was still playing.

also players wore the 9 while mj was retired

because only a hand few wore the 4 while mj played id think they would have had to been friends with mj or ask permission from mj himself.

also back then in the 80's it probably was frowned upon wearing a rivals signature shoe

I don’t recall anyone else rocking the 4s other than Phil Jackson on the sidelines. Lol. First NBA player I ever saw to rock Jordans other than MJ himself was Jerome Kersey during the 1990 Finals.

 

[koolkeith34]

Bottom line.... these will be a debatable purchase when seen at Nordstrom Rack for $120 months from now...

 

[sneeker]

not sure if you comment was just a general one or if that included me? but so far, if you read back this thread, you'll see I haven't been the most enthusiastic about the 37's, rather far from it, so nah I don't consider myself a promoter. I've been more critical about this one than any other shoe since the 33', including retros. I just ordered my 1st pair last week because I love the colorway and I wanna try 'em out on court, but I am still not sold. Maybe the 37 will be an acquired taste, maybe not. I'll reserve judgement for later.


While I agree that QC control SHOULD be better in some instances and JB quality control varies alot from one factory to another or from one model to another(especially with retros), no matter what you do, no QC or testing procedure can be 100% fail proof...go ask the automotive industry where they test stuff like you wouldn't believe. Why so many recalls and problems with initial quality, why so many guaranty claims? For one there are way too many variables and most of the time the difference comes down to milimeters and minute details. Next corporations are willing to live with that 1-3% fail rate overall in general and I guess that Nike is probably no different than any other company out there.

A good friend of mine is a world renown expert senior chief engineer in cell phones architecture(hardware) design and testing, probably the best in the business and his job is to ensure that all bases are covered.
He taught me alot about QC procedures and product testing. If only people had any idea how complicated and rigorous it is developing a new product or even changing just one aspect sometimes, it's mindblowing. No matter what you do, how much you plan, how much or how long you test, there will always be a fail rate with the end product.

Again not defending JB, just stating facts and trying to remain unbiased when it comes to conclusions.

That being said, remaining issues are NO less frustrating to the end user/customer, myself included, especially when it is something we are passionate about and it is geared to be at the very top of the food chain of bball sneakers, retailing for big dollars.

It can be frustrating especially if you end up hurting yourself. One of my more publicized frustration was the 35s. Now I like that shoe a lot that I didn't even want to return them eventhough it was the reason that I got my arch injured and had to go to rehab for 3 months. I ended up hating the 35 in the end because of it. Also one of the reasons why I'm vocal with criticisms regarding upcoming shoes eversince especially with certain design cues and materials.

 

[Kobekobe]

the man really said that jordan changed shoes because they wouldn't last another game. you gotta be some kind of special to sincerely believe that

other athletes in that same era didn't have to go through a new pair every game and they were wearing the same tech, quality, performance for that time period. if anything, some players were playing in inferior shoes for multiple games without rips, injuries, etc.

Spoiler

 

[GOAT969798]

As far as I can remember, none. But according to reports, some shoes were pretty much unusable anymore after games and it happened on a few occasions that he had to change shoes at halftime.

Question: how many players besides MJ were authorized by Nike to wear Air Jordans during NBA games before he first retired? Do you have any idea?

After he came back, starting with the Jordan 10, only select few were picked by the man himself to wear J's during the season. All of the other NBA players strictly didn't have permission to wear J's during NBA games.

In the next 10 years the number, whilst still very limited, grew up gradually but slowly.

Sometime after MJ last retired it expanded to what it is now and today things have gone exponentially where there's probably on average more than one player per team wearing the newest J's on any given nite.
Nike doesn't recommend to pro players wearing shoes past x amount of times and a good number of them don't respect the prescription because either A) they don't have a shoe deal with Nike or B) they prefer the feel of broken in shoes for games or C) they're just too superstitious to change shoes when time comes. So most of them don't wear a fresh new pair every game, on top of that many of them aren't even JB select athletes, so they just do whatever they want.

Now how many NCAA teams and or players wearing Air Jordans compared to 30 years ago?

Is the average NBA player heavier and more explosive than ever before today?

The bigger the players sample, the bigger the exposure, the bigger the stress on equipment, all that added up together the more chances this will happen again with any shoe, any brand, period.

Before jumping the gun folks, we should consider all the facts and not forget to put things into context, that's all I'm saying.

I really don't care about having the last word on this, people can have it and debate all they want.

Cheers!

Your argument sounds like Air Jordans have never been a durable shoe. I don't know what I'm talking about here but I didn't think anyone besides Mike was wearing a fresh out the box pair each game of the season. So all other shoes could hold up to the stress of multiple NBA games?

 

[GOAT969798]

Y

i believe a few players wore the 4 when mj was still playing.

also players wore the 9 while mj was retired

because only a hand few wore the 4 while mj played id think they would have had to been friends with mj or ask permission from mj himself.

also back then in the 80's it probably was frowned upon wearing a rivals signature shoe

Yeah, I feel like the biggest reason would be wearing a shoe that has your opponents name on them. I watched a video about Mike promoting the Zoom tech as superior in his 12s, and encouraging his teammates to wear them for a competitive edge.

 

[GOAT969798]

I don’t recall anyone else rocking the 4s other than Phil Jackson on the sidelines. Lol. First NBA player I ever saw to rock Jordans other than MJ himself was Jerome Kersey during the 1990 Finals.

Good pic right here. Had to see it to believe it

 

[jshortt]

Y

Yeah, I feel like the biggest reason would be wearing a shoe that has your opponents name on them. I watched a video about Mike promoting the Zoom tech as superior in his 12s, and encouraging his teammates to wear them for a competitive edge.

Yeah, that was a big no-no back in the day. Especially when it was the only shoe that had his name on it. Once the team J stuff started coming out during the Wiz era, it was a little more accepted.

 

[SR-71]

Your argument sounds like Air Jordans have never been a durable shoe. I don't know what I'm talking about here but I didn't think anyone besides Mike was wearing a fresh out the box pair each game of the season. So all other shoes could hold up to the stress of multiple NBA games?

Never said that. On the contrary, I do believe from the OG days they've always been pretty damn reliable and durable shoes AND what I'm saying here is that today's newer Air Jordans models are not as low quality by design as many people portray' em to be, but quality perception sometimes seems to be the issue. For sure QC could be better which doesn't help in some cases, but to me the shoes themselves are as durable as they've always been as far as newer models are concerned.
People can feel free to disagree.

My personal experience has been the following: I've been playing in OG Jordans 5-36 pretty much every day of my life for the past 32 years(except when injured), played D1 ball, been wearing them to the gym a few times a week for almost 30 years, doing extensive plyo sessions, countless dunk sessions over the years, crazy leg days, squatting 600+ lbs, olympic lifting, indoors, outdoors(in the early years) you name it and I still do play in those same shoes, newer ones, early and modern days retros from AJ 1 to ..., even play in some og's still sometimes and the majority of them still hold up great. Besides lightly cracking a few cf plates and some annoying circa 2005-2010 ish outsoles getting unglued prematurely, never had a thing to complain about as far as Air Jordans durability or quality is concerned.

Pretty much the same story from everyone around me who beat their shoes to death. We work with elite young athletes and never witnessed any issues with J's for the past 20+ years.

MJ used to beat up shoes like nobody else at that time, that's not me saying, its the people at Nike and like I said it's well documented. Today, freak athletes are a dime a dozen in the NBA. I guess this is probably the reason why the vast majority of players could manage to play more games in their shoes without any incidents back then more than any other thing as compared to now.

 

[SR-71]

I don’t recall anyone else rocking the 4s other than Phil Jackson on the sidelines. Lol. First NBA player I ever saw to rock Jordans other than MJ himself was Jerome Kersey during the 1990 Finals.

woah! never knew that!