The Air Jordan 31 arrived in 2016 at a hundred and eighty five dollars, designed by Tate Kuerbis, and it made a statement before anyone laced it up. For the first time on a numbered Air Jordan, the original Wings logo and a Nike Swoosh appeared together with the Jumpman, woven subtly into the Flyweave upper, reconnecting the line to the Air Jordan 1.

It debuted in a Banned colorway on September 3, 2016, a direct callback to the shoe that started everything, over a FlightSpeed cushioning setup. Russell Westbrook’s Why Not editions were central to this era.

The 31 was a celebrated reset, a modern performance shoe that finally embraced its own heritage. It is the moment the line stopped running from its history and started building on it again.