The Air Jordan 7 is famous for being the shoe’s on the feet of MJ as he dismantled the Portland Trailblazers for his second (consecutive) NBA Championship in 1992. Sneakerheads have a complex relationship with the 7, it’s both underrated and appreciated at the same time. Classic colorways like the Raptors and Bordeaux are distinctly early ’90s in flavor and instantly recognizable, but it’s rare to hear someone say “dang man, those 7s are the best Jays ever.” Some would argue the 7s are on the lower end of the ‘Bulls Years’ Jordans totem pole; yet others will tout them as top-5. The polarization is real people.
Like most Jays the Air Jordan 7 has released in low-top versions alongside the traditional mid-cut models. The lows faithfully shrink the design features of the mids with the most notable difference being the height of the bootie and removal of the ankle pads. For today’s Sample Sunday we’re counting down our top-5 favorite unreleased Air Jordan 7s, enjoy!
Air Jordan 7 Low, Citrus; 2006
These 7s are summertime fine with their clean white leather base and citrus orange accents. It appears as though the scheme was stolen off of the 2001 Air Jordan 11 Lows but we’re not mad because the look translates very well. The 7’s mountain like details on the midsole are perfect vessels for pops of color.
Air Jordan 7, Pantone; 2010
The Pantone series never released as a set but they’re well known. Basically, Jordan Brand dressed every Jay from 1 through 22 in monochromatic powder blue. While some variants have released over the years (like the 9 Low and 11 History of Flight) these 7s haven’t and it’s a shame because they’re beautiful. The pictures speak for themselves.
Air Jordan XX8 Days of Flight; 2013
Spooky right? Too bad they have nothing to do with Halloween. These XX8 Days of Flights released via special contest so they’re basically samples – we’re sure 99% of people don’t have these in the closet. The entire line followed the same black/ green color scheme and were used as promotional material for the Air Jordan XX8’s release.
Air Jordan 7, Olympic; 2012 
Members of Team Jordan like Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony were blessed with these Gold Medal rendition of the classic Air Jordan 7 Olympic. We saw an Alternative Tinker Olympic 7 release in 2016 based off Tinker’s original 1992 sketches. Unlike the 2016 release, these joints look more like the OG Olympic 7s but with gold across the upper instead of silver. These are hot, plain and simple. We’d classify these as P.O.S. “purchase on sight” if ever released.
Air Jordan 7, Reverse Orion; ?
Our top pick doesn’t have a release year but our guess is that they’re from somewhere between 2006 and 2009. The Orion blue stitching onto of the black upper looks a lot like the Carolina Blue 5s from 2006 and we’re feeling that vibe in all the best ways. Other than the black base, these faithfully carry over the look of the Orion Blue 7s. The vibe coming off of these screams sample and we love that, hence it lands on top of our list.
Nick Engvall
Sneaker History
Robbie Falchi