When Nike originally designed the Air Jordan 1 for at-the-time rookie Michael Jordan in 1984, they engineered the sneaker to be made for use on the basketball floor.

So in short, the answer is yes, you can hoop in Air Jordan 1’s. However, there are some factors both technical and relative to the way the silhouette is viewed in today’s sneaker community that contribute to the overall perspective that they aren’t necessarily the best option for wearing on-court today.

The Air Jordan 1 Construction

—

Let’s first dive into the construction of the Air Jordan 1. The base layer on the high-profile sibling — the only variation MJ himself used to ball in — is fully comprised of leather fabrications and the bottom piece features minimal Air cushioning inside its midsole. While this may be enough to keep you somewhat supported during play, they don’t compare to the flexibility and sole support of today’s Nike Basketball signature sneakers. For example, a model such as say, the LeBron 17, beats out the Air Jordan 1 by a long shot in terms of performance capabilities. They’re constructed with Knitposite base layers, which is a lightweight Flyknit fabric forged with heat-moulded yarns that adds durability, support, and the ability resist stretching. Moreover, they’re loaded up with a duo of Zoom Air pods for far better responsiveness.

The Air Jordan 1 Construction

The other element is simply the fact that sneakerheads today mostly view the Air Jordan 1 as a footwear option for casual wear. In the digital age we live in today, style is driven by that of social media influencers, popular streetwear designers, famous actors and musical artists, and this certainly plays a major role in inspiring consumers to rock J’s in the streets, as opposed to the hardwood.Now, at the end of the day, the AJ1’s are just shoes, and you have free reign on how you choose to rock them, but just make a note that there are far better options out made specifically for shooting hoops in.