When you see the shoe pictured above, you know it’s part of the Air Jordan legacy, but it’s probably one of the most overlooked models in the vault. They don’t have a name like their regular season counterpart, the ‘Taxi’ and there’s no single moment of dominance they symbolize like the ‘Flu Game’, nor any controversy in their release like the also white ‘Rising Sun’. Despite the apparent lack of history, yours truly likes these best of all the Air Jordan XIIs (12).
I still remember sitting in the wood-paneled den at my best friend’s house on opening night 1996, staring with disbelief at a new red-on-white colourway of the upcoming Jays I had recently seen teased in a Sports Illustrated ad. The Taxis weren’t even out as of this point, so the sight of what the original ‘rising sun’ was a shock (Air Jordan XII marked the first time an Air Jordan released in five colourways during the season). Maybe that’s what compelled me to trade my size 9 Zoom Flight 96s for my seventh-grade classmate’s size 6.5 Twelves during gym class about a month later. I still remember that November night watching TNT and to this day can barely fathom a shoe so amazing that I’d risk breaking my feet to wear them.
With all these vivid memories, you can imagine how personally exciting our latest Sneaker Wallpaper is for me. It features the shoe so at home on the road that during that 69-win season that SI depicted a cartoon MJ wearing them while buffing his fingernails in mockery of the competition. If you need these early, you can find some at osneaker.com. You can relive the beginning of the second greatest season in NBA history by making these your new desktop wallpaper thanks to our new SneakerNews Wallpapers.
Release Date: 12/19/2009
Name: Air Jordan XII Retro
Style: 130690-110
Color: White/Varsity Red/Black
Retail Price: $150.00
