Michael Jordan appeared in six NBA Finals between 1991 and 1998 and won all six. Across those six series, he wore eight different colorways, sometimes switching mid-series depending on home or road games.
The shoes he wore during those runs are among the most historically significant in Jordan Brand history. Not because of their design alone, but because of the moments attached to them. From the first championship in 1991 to the last shot in 1998, here is every Air Jordan Michael Jordan wore during the Finals, ranked.
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8. Air Jordan 14 "Last Shot"
The Air Jordan 14 "Last Shot" gets its name from one of the most iconic moments in NBA history. In Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz, Michael Jordan hit a pull-up jumper over Bryon Russell with 5.2 seconds remaining to give the Bulls an 87-86 lead.
They held on to win. It was Jordan's sixth and final championship as a Chicago Bull. The shoe he was wearing when he hit that shot was a prototype of the Air Jordan 14, a silhouette that had not yet officially been released to the public.
The design was inspired by Jordan's Ferrari 550 Maranello, with a low-profile shape and a distinctive shield-shaped Jumpman badge on the lateral side.
The black upper with varsity red midsole accents tied it directly to the Bulls colorway. It is one of the most historically significant shoes in the entire Jordan catalog.
7. Air Jordan 13 "Bred"
The Air Jordan 13 "Bred" was the shoe Michael Jordan wore through the majority of the 1998 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz. That series was the centerpiece of the Last Dance, the final championship run of Jordan's Bulls era.
He averaged 33.5 points per game throughout the series and won his sixth Finals MVP award. The AJ13 was designed by Tinker Hatfield and took visual inspiration from a black panther, with a holographic eye on the lateral side and a textured upper meant to mimic the animal's paw.
The black upper with true red midsole and outsole applied the Bulls colorway cleanly to one of the most distinctive silhouettes in the entire Jordan line.
Spike Lee also wore the shoe in He Got Game that same year, which added another layer of cultural visibility to the colorway at exactly the right moment.
6. Air Jordan 12 "Flu Game"
Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz is one of the most referenced performances in basketball history. Michael Jordan arrived at the arena that day severely ill, having spent the night before unable to sleep with a high fever.
He played anyway. He finished with 38 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 25 seconds remaining. The Bulls won 90-88 and went on to close out the series in Game 6. Jordan was wearing the Air Jordan 12 in a black and varsity red colorway that day.
The colorway had no official nickname at the time. It became known as the "Flu Game" entirely because of that performance. Jordan has since said the illness was caused by food poisoning from a late-night pizza delivery in Salt Lake City, not the flu. The name stuck regardless.
5. Air Jordan 12 "Taxi"
The Air Jordan 12 "Taxi" is the shoe Michael Jordan wore in Game 6 of the 1997 NBA Finals, the game that clinched his fifth championship. While the "Flu Game" colorway gets more attention, the "Taxi" is the one he was actually wearing when the series ended.
The white tumbled leather upper with black toe overlay and gold lace locks gave it a noticeably cleaner look than the road colorway. The gold hardware was a deliberate design choice by Tinker Hatfield, referencing the luxury aesthetic he built into the AJ12 line.
Jordan wore the "Taxi" for home games throughout the 1997 Finals, alternating with the "Flu Game" colorway on the road. As a result, it is directly tied to two championship moments from that series, including the clincher.
4. Air Jordan 11 "Bred"
Michael Jordan wore the "Concord" colorway of the Air Jordan 11 throughout the 1995-96 regular season, which ended with the Bulls finishing 72-10. When the Finals arrived against the Seattle SuperSonics, he switched to the "Bred."
The black patent leather lower with varsity red outsole and white midsole applied the Bulls colorway to what many consider the greatest basketball shoe ever made. Jordan wore the "Bred" for Games 3 through 6 of that series, including the clinching game in which he finished with 22 points and fell to the floor of the locker room in tears.
It was the first championship he celebrated without his father, who had been murdered three years earlier. That emotional context gave the image of Jordan on the floor in those shoes a weight that went well beyond basketball.
The "Bred" 11 remains one of the most sought-after retros in Jordan Brand history.
3. Air Jordan 8 "Playoffs"
The 1993 NBA Finals against the Phoenix Suns gave Michael Jordan his third consecutive championship and his third consecutive Finals MVP. He averaged 41.0 points per game throughout that series, which remains an NBA Finals record to this day. He scored 55 points in Game 4 alone.
The shoe on his feet for all of it was the Air Jordan 8 "Playoffs." The black upper features a distinctive graphic on the midsole with red, white, and blue geometric shapes, along with dual cross straps across the forefoot that became the defining design detail of the silhouette.
The "Playoffs" nickname came directly from MJ wearing the colorway throughout the 1993 postseason run. It is the only AJ8 colorway he ever wore during a Finals series.
The three-peat also made Jordan the first player in NBA history to win Finals MVP in three consecutive appearances, and he was wearing these when it happened.
2. Air Jordan 7 "Raptors"
The 1992 NBA Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers produced one of the most memorable individual performances in Finals history. In Game 1, Michael Jordan hit six three-pointers in the first half alone, finishing with 35 points.
He looked at the broadcast table and shrugged after the sixth one, in what became one of the most iconic images of his career. The Bulls won the series in six games, and Jordan averaged 35.8 points per game throughout, winning his second consecutive Finals MVP.
On his feet for all of it was the Air Jordan 7 "Raptors." The black suede upper with true red, charcoal, and purple accents gave it a colorway unlike anything else in the Jordan line at that point.
The AJ7 was also the first Jordan signature to carry no visible Nike branding anywhere on the shoe. It introduced Huarache technology to the line and remains one of the most distinctive silhouettes in the entire catalog.
1. Air Jordan 6 "Black Infrared"
The Air Jordan 6 "Black Infrared" is the most important shoe on this list. It is the shoe Michael Jordan was wearing when he won his first NBA championship. In 1991, after years of playoff losses to the Detroit Pistons, the Bulls finally broke through.
They swept the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals and went on to face Magic Johnson's Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals. The Bulls won in five games. Jordan averaged 31.2 points, 11.4 assists, and 6.6 rebounds per game throughout the series and won his first Finals MVP.
The AJ6 was designed by Tinker Hatfield and was the first Jordan silhouette to feature a spoiler-like heel tab and a clean lace cover over the tongue. The infrared accents on the midsole and heel tab against the all-black upper gave it a look that has held up for more than three decades.
Every championship shoe on this list exists because this one came first.
