Nike to Revisit the Night Michael Jordan Wore 13-Year-Old Sneakers at the Garden
Michael Jordan’s meteoric career has been celebrated dozens of times in dozens of different ways. That doesn’t mean there isn’t room for one more tribute, though. Nike will pay homage to Michael Jordan’s very last game as a Chicago Bull in front of a Madison Square Garden crowd later this month with the release of a new Jordan 1 Retro Low OG colorway. Here is everything you need to know about the tribute Jordan sneaker dubbed “Last Dance at the Garden,” and the game that inspired it.
Everything you need to know about the upcoming ‘Last Dance at the Garden’ Jordan 1 Retro Low
On September 26, Jordan fans and sneakerheads alike will get the chance to own the “Last Dance at the Garden” Jordan 1 Retro Low. The sneakers will go on sale at 10 a.m. on the SNKRS app and through select retailers. The sneakers will sell for between $140 and $155. The colorway uses the consistently popular Jordan 1 Low silhouette and pairs it with a Summit White full-grain leather base; a black jacquard textile overlay patterned with red roses offers a nod to Madison Square Garden. The black leather Swoosh is backed in metallic gold, a treatment repeated on the lower metal eyelets and the Wings logo at the heel.
While the sneakers honor Jordan’s iconic game, the Knicks have been given a nod, albeit in more subtle details. A loop of blue and orange webbing sits beneath the Nike Air tongue tag, and the red insoles carry a blue Nike Air logo on the right shoe and an orange one on the left. The shoes will be available in adult, unisex sizing.
The night that inspired the upcoming ‘Last Dance at the Garden’ Jordan 1 Retro release
On March 8, 1998, Michael Jordan walked into Madison Square Garden wearing a pair of Air Jordan 1 Highs in the original “Chicago” colorway. The iconic shoes had become synonymous with the NBA star, but they had also been largely relegated to lifestyle shoes instead of true athletic shoes at that point.
The sneakers were 13 years old and considered technologically obsolete, lacking cushioning technology that had become standard even in Jordan’s own signature line by 1998. The shoes Michael Jordan was wearing that night were also a full size too small. Despite that, he scored 42 points, and led the Bulls to victory. His feet were blistered and bleeding by the time he walked off the court. The Last Dance covered the iconic game.
While that was supposed to be Jordan’s last game at Madison Square Garden, it didn’t end up working out that way. Michael Jordan returned to the iconic arena during his comeback season with the Washington Wizards in 2001.
This is not the first release that honors a specific night from Michael Jordan’s career
While the upcoming Jordan 1 release has sneakerheads talking, it’s not the first Jordan release that has been inspired by specific nights from the NBA superstar’s career. The Jordan 14, for example, has been reissued multiple times to celebrate Michael Jordan’s assumed “last shot” in 1998. The moment came on June 14, 1998, during Game 6 of the NBA Finals at Utah’s Delta Center. Jordan stripped the ball from Karl Malone, came back up the court, and hit a jump shot from the top of the key with 5.2 seconds left. The bucket clinched the Bulls’ sixth championship.
At the time, everyone believed it was the last shot of his career, making the moment feel particularly magical. The black/red “Last Shot” colorway, designed with Ferrari in mind, first released in 1999 and has been retroed several times since, including a 20th anniversary release in 2018 to much fanfare. Another release is planned for 2027.
Nike has also issued several versions of the Air Jordan 12 that reference Michael Jordan’s infamous 1997 Finals game, in which he played sick. Jordan actually had food poisoning, not the flu, despite the colorway’s popular nickname. He played through the illness, ultimately slumping into Scottie Pippen’s arms as the buzzer sounded. The sneakers, known to fans as the “Flu Game” Air Jordan 12 retros, were most recently released in 2025 in full-family sizing. The original sneakers worn during the game sold at auction for $104,765 in 2013, then resold for $1.38 million ten years later.
