Cincinnati has always had a special tie to his royal Airness, in 1997 the UC Bearcats started a local Jordan Brand craze as they became one of the first College Schools to rock Air Jordan on the hardwood. Players such as NBA’s Ruben Patterson and Kenyon Martin were making highlight reel’s high flying through the air and swishing buckets with Cincinnati across their chest, and OG Air Jordans on their feet. With Classic Jordan Brand ‘Cat scratch’ Jersey’s and shorts, to team exclusive Jordan Brand Shoes you couldn’t walk down a little Cincinnati block without seeing a group of people donning the Jump Man. The Bearcats were what everyone wanted to be. Though it may have been common place in Cincinnati, seeing Jordans elsewhere wasn’t a regular occurrence yet. What was once spotted only on sweat drenched gym floors began to pop up on the feet of stars in prime time television, heavy metal rock videos and even in some more unusual places. On the surface a Skatepark doesn’t seem like a place you would find Air Jordans being put to good use. But as it turns out, Jordan’s were equally as effective on a skateboard as they were on the basketball court.
The ¾ cut construction, the extra ankle support, and the super grippy outsoles that were built to be amazing on the basketball court were excellent for board feel, grip and foot protection during skate sessions. The knit between the University of Cincinnati, Jordan Brand and skateboarding couldn’t get any stronger as UC’s campus was seen as a Mecca for local skateboarding. The classic trick the ‘Boneless’ was even invented at the world famous D.O’s spot right next to campus, this was later made famous By Steve Caballero who was well known for popping boneless’s in Air Jordans. To celebrate and acknowledge the long standing history of Jordan Brand crossing over into skateboarding, the Air Jordan 4 has now been given the SB treatment with a heavy suede mudguard, reinforced upper and ankle support “wings,” a gum rubber outsole for superior grip, and its signature tall tongue with the Jump man logo. Packed with extra padding!!! The Nike SB X Jordan 4 "St Patrick's Day" is available 03.17.2023
shout out to our new friends an old:
Tony Hetiz- Ned XL- Rob Zilla- Sour Smoothy
How could we forget the grass roots of the Jordan 4? Basketball will always have a home in Cincinnati even tho most of the games are seen on the black top and not the arena. Loosing our Cincinnati Royal's team will always hurt, but our love for the game will always stay true.
There' no dout the Jordan 4 looks iconic on the court, even if you can't kickflip in them...
All photos by Chad Dolan
@undergroundvisual
