Baker's Top Ten Shoes of All Time - # 4 The Air Jordan 5

Over the past week, this shoe has gone back and forth between finishing in the # 2, #3 and #4 spots. After hours of meditation, the AJ V has come to rest in the 4th spot. This shoe, like many others on the list, changed my life. Here are some "firsts" that came with this shoe. 1.) First clear sole on a Jordan, 2.) first shiny "3M" material on the tongue, 3.) first Jordan to have lace locks, 4.) first Jordan that came in non-Bulls colors (see photo), 5.) first Jordan to have "23" stitched on the side and 6.) first suede Jordan. The suede factor really put this shoe over the top. I remember buying mine in kids sizes (like Danny Simmer) only to open the box and see that they WERE NOT suede. I nearly had a heart-attack and ran to my kitchen to start eating in hopes that my feet would grow overnight and I could exchange them. I did eventually buy the men's size as well (well my mom did).
As I mentioned above, this shoe came in a teal and purple colorway which are known to true shoe dorks as "The Grapes." When the Grapes were retroed last year, sneaker geeks waited in lines for up to 10 hours to get them and the shoes resold for up to $500.00. For many, the Grape V is the holy grail of sneakers.

As far as perfromance, this shoe is average. It is very high and the bottoms are very flat. This hasn't stopped UH legends Sean Ball, Khalid Lakanwal, Steven Bradley and Roger Johnson from busting out the Vs, however. After all, who cares about comfort when you look that good.

5 Comments

Comment by Michael Baker on November 17, 2008 at 11:56am: here is the famous black "23" pair.

Comment by Johnny Webb on November 17, 2008 at 9:46pm: the black pair above, my 2nd fav shoe ever.......thanks for putting these on the list. i enjoy this top 10.

a lot better top 10 list than my trainer made up today at work (Ameriprise Financial)....top 10 biggest cities in the world.....some lady at work guess "Atlantic City" - wow, what a F'ING idiot. ridiculous.

Comment by Michael Baker on November 17, 2008 at 10:23pm: Thanks Johnny, very cool of you to say bro. I appreciate knowing that people are enjoying it. I've had a lot of fun, and am bummed that it's almost done, haha

Comment by Johnny Webb on November 17, 2008 at 10:25pm: i know, can't wait to see the top 3.....

Comment by Steve Schmidt on November 18, 2008 at 8:00am: First off, Mike this is dope.

Secondly, Webb....a lady seriously said Atlantic City? That's awesome.

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