The Air Jordan XX9 came in 2014 at two hundred and twenty five dollars, with Tinker Hatfield leading as the brand’s vice president of creative concepts. It was the first Jordan with a performance-woven jacquard upper, inspired by Italian craft, paired with an updated Flight Plate, and it was promoted as the lightest model in the line to that point, a brand claim worth taking with a grain of salt.

After the maximalist XX8, the XX9 felt like a return to something wearable and refined. Russell Westbrook debuted it on court, and it has aged well in the eyes of people who value the modern performance era.

It is one of the better-regarded shoes of the post-Michael stretch, a clean and premium design that proved the line could still build a serious basketball shoe. The XX9 is the quiet high point of the early FlightSpeed years.