What I Want To See In The Air Jordan XX9

With the shoe being revealed in a matter of hours, here are a few things I'd love to see on the latest game shoe.

words // Nick DePaula

Last year, there were quite a few surprises for the game shoe. For starters, we didn't see the Air Jordan XX8 until it was officially unveiled at the brand's official unveiling event. That was pretty big, as even on its lowest years, the annual Air Jordan still carries with it an undeniable interest level. To reach Apple-levels of secrecy was impressive, regardless of what the shoe even looked like.

In a way, since they've gotten this far, it'd be even better if the shoe was unveiled on-court for Game 1 of the playoffs, since it was pretty cool to see the XX8 in just its second look on the hardwood, but I can certainly see why the brand wants to opt for a big glossy event first.

Then there was the fact that it was actually even called the "XX8" at all. Did that have a lot to do with the renewed interest in the shoe? I'd say so, from an entirely broad and unscientific scope, that it absolutely mattered.

Most importantly though, in addition to the secrecy leading up to the unveiling and the return to Roman numerals, which even Tinker jokingly admitted wasn't for any particular reason other than to give the line a boost, was the fact that the XX8 was an amazing shoe to play in.

With a new Zoom-housed and TPU dispersion system dubbed "Flight Plate," the brand's on-court legitimacy and performance trust was seemingly renewed overnight. Let's be straight, the last few years had been clouded with transparent gimmicks. There was the modularity options in the AJ 2011 and 2012 that were mostly unnecessary, and the AJ 2010 literally had a transparent gimmick right on the damn side of the shoe.

While the XX8's 8-inch tall zippered shroud told Michael's story of "f-ing stealth" and not much else, the shoe as a whole was a huge leap forward on-court, and a great sign of things to come for a brand that was beginning to be a bit too defined by its Retros.

So, what am I hoping to see in a mere matter of hours on the Air Jordan XX9?

I most definitely want to see Flight Plate carried over. During the early 2000s, the brand was often introducing things that were allegedly best-in-class, and they'd then entirely ditch them just one year later. I thought Flight Plate was amazing, and there's no reason to ditch it this soon when there's momentum to be building. Some explosive players (aka not me) had issues with the forefoot Zoom bag exploding upon impact, so hopefully they've found a way to better protect the bag from the most extreme of pressure on landings.

As great as the XX8's mostly synthetic and mesh upper may have felt, another thing I'd love to see is the Air Jordan return to using exceptional leather. I never had any Air Jordans growing up, but I distinctly remember the materials and full grain quality on the XIIs and XIIIs that my middle school teammates had. It's ridiculous to think that "leather" can even be a selling point in 2014, but that's pretty much where we're at in this overly synthetic, light-at-all-costs current space of the industry. You can still build a plush and soft inner shell against the foot, but please bring back a quality leather to the upper, which certainly helped both the AJ 2010 and 2011.

Something else I'd like to see, which I was super disappointed never ended up happening last year, is the launch of a NIKEiD edition of the shoe. It was something heavily hinted for the XX8 that never came to be, and if the XX9 is going to perform as well as I'm hoping now that I once again believe in the brand's on-court potential, I'd like to come up with my own concepts.

That's mostly because I don't trust Russell Westbrook's input.

We're just a few hours away from the grand unveiling of yet another addition to the many editions of Air -- so what are you hoping to see this year for the XX9?