Air Jordan 37

Whether it was that ’88 dare from the free-throw line, the soaring switched-hands layup of ’91, or any number of the cradle-rocking dunks he perfected in Carolina, Michael Jordan holds some of the most memorable jumping sequences in basketball history. Those moments are a scientific sandbox for Nike’s Sport Research Lab (NSRL), who can dissect less than 10 seconds of an action and translate it into years’ worth of intense laboratory study and testing in order to design footwear that serves the most talented movers in the sport. Bringing together the modern insights of sports research and a modern treatment of reductive layering, the Air Jordan XXXVII is a top-to-bottom performance system for flight.

Building upon the legacy of the sport’s most iconic Game Shoe, the AJ XXXVII combines timeless style with cutting-edge performance innovation. Design elements reference the classic AJ VII, which was inspired by textures and patterns of West African folk art.

Subtle but strong, the AJ XXXVII’s deconstructed upper is a tribute to minimalism. It’s breathable, light, and low-slung to enhance the foot without constricting it, with ankle support designed to replicate the feel of wrapped athletic tape.

The hero of the heel is Formula23, an advanced cushioning system of lightweight injected foam. Sustainable and long-lasting, it’s built for powerful heel strikes which move energy forward in the foot. To maximize airborne explosiveness, the AJ XXXVII uses a carbon fiber plate in the midfoot to transfer energy towards the double-stacked Zoom Air and Zoom Air Strobel in the front of the shoe. Load up and take off.

The upper is a new exploration of Lenoweave, a monofilament variety that is both strong and pliable. The design of the Lenoweave pattern itself, along with the profile of the tooling, is inspired by the AJ VII and the hand-shaped craftsmanship of West African basket weaving. The zones of support in the upper are modeled after the configuration of sandal straps and ankle tape. This pattern not only provides containment in the areas of highest need, similar to a layered Huarache exoskeleton, it also adds to the handmade character of the shoe’s design.

While the Air Jordan XXXVII is built for multidirectional play, the shoe’s components are rooted in the NSRL’s study of the three stages of jumping: crash, load and launch. For the crash phase (think the instant deceleration on the jump, or even the landing on a rebound), the shoe’s heel features a TPU mold encasing responsive Formula 23 foam, which acts as a crash-landing pad for all of that energy striking down into the floor. The newest flagship foam from Jordan Brand, Formula 23 is designed to be lightweight and responsive, and it’s one of the most sustainable performance foams made by a NIKE, Inc. brand. Next, the load phase is the conduit transferring the motion from the heel through the midfoot. That’s why a carbon fiber midfoot shank returns to the Jordan signature line for the first time since the Air Jordan XXXII. Finally, the launch phase — the moment for liftoff — is set up by the Zoom Air strobel unit with the additional forefoot unit for a double-stacked pop off the pad off the foot.