After his brief experiment with pro baseball in 1994, Michael Jordan un-retired from the NBA and returned to his starring role with the Bulls in March 1995, just in time for the playoffs. But the young, upstart Orlando Magic surprised Chicago by knocking them out in the 2nd round. MJ apparently needed a little more time to find his mojo. Heading into the 1995-96 season, Jordan and the Bulls were determined to prove their dominance once again. And did they ever, winning a then-record 72 regular season games before plowing through the postseason with an emphatic 15-3 run to win their 4th championship. Jordan was officially back on top of the sports world, putting to rest any doubts about his ability or desire when he walked away from basketball two years earlier. He averaged a league-leading 30.4 points along with 6.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.2 steals during the regular season to earn his fourth league MVP award. He was also named All-Star MVP and Finals MVP for the rare trifecta.
For the majority of the '95-96 season, Jordan sported the white and black Air Jordan XI shoes commonly known among sneaker aficionados simply as "Concords." Fresh to the hobby comes this incredible pair of MJ's game-worn Concords from that epic campaign that began another 3-Peat for Chicago. They come from an impeccable source, the Bulls longtime Community Relations Manager, Jeff Schultz.
Nike officially released the Air Jordan XI to the public in 1996, and Mike wore this shiny black-leather-on-white-canvas style from early in the season all the way through the NBA Finals. Tinker Hatfield's popular design for the XI's featured patent leather for the first time on a basketball shoe. "Quality Basketball Products Inspired by the Greatest Player Ever" is stitched inside the upper tongues. "23" and the Jumpman logo adorn the outer heels.
The pair comes in size 13 and have the proper player-exclusive tagging on the interior with the manufacture year indicating 1995 and the important “TYPS” label. The "TY" is Nike's Tong Yang factory code and the "PS" stands for Player Sample. The sneakers show a solid amount of game wear, with minor creasing on the uppers and midsoles, light tread on the outsoles, and a heavily faded Nike Air logo on the insoles from sock sweating on the insoles. All elements including the laces are original and as-issued. A spectacular pair of MJ gamers in Nike's most popular post-rookie Air Jordan release from his most accomplished NBA season.
Includes LOAs from Sports Investors Authentication and Jeff Schultz of the Chicago Bulls.