SOLE COLLECTOR: Sneakers

SPACE

SPACE
Key Tech: Zoom Air (forefoot and heel), dual-density sockliner (EVA base augmented with high-density shock pads under the forefoot and heel), large composite midfoot support shank, dense memory foam padding lines both sides of the ankle

Use: Hoops, Indoor

Position: Guard/Forward (and light Centers)

Colorway Tested: Black/Black/Varsity Red

Price: $150

Pros: Excellent comfort; excellent fit; excellent impact protection with wonderful cushioning response and court feel; feels very stable; excellent traction; light

Cons: None

SPACE

PACE

LARGER THAN LIFE

BEFORE THE AUDI TT INSPIRED ADIDAS’ THE KOBE, there was the Ferrari 550 Maranello-inspired Air Jordan XIV.

Several elements link the XIV to that fire breathing Italian super-coupe, including the design team’s treatment of the Jumpman logo, which mimics Ferrari’s classic prancing horse shield, the tire tread-like pattern carved into the strip of rubber that wraps up along the shoe’s heel and the wire-mesh backed air-intake vent punched through the medial side of the shoe’s midsole.

But, apart from the visual cues, what truly links the shoe and the car is a shared spirit of unbridled, uncompromising performance. The design brief for the Maranello 550 was “performance at no compromise” and Tinker Hatfield and his design and development team at Jordan Brand seem to have adopted it as their credo for the XIV, as well. It is, in my opinion, still the only shoe to carry the Jordan label deserving of a perfect grade for all-around performance.

Starting from the bottom and working on up, the XIV’s outsole provides excellent traction. There’s nothing particularly fancy about it; it’s made of a single piece of solid rubber and features a traditional herringbone pattern. But the bottom line is that it does what it’s supposed to do and does it exceedingly well.

Sitting above the outsole is the Hummer H1 of midfoot support shanks. In addition to doing what its name implies, the shank prevents the XIV from flexing or twisting under the midfoot on any plane or axis currently known to man (if string theory turns out to be true, the shank may be flexing in some unseeable n dimension, but it sure as heck isn’t in the ones we live in). This bad boy is beefy and makes it abundantly clear that the rear two-thirds of your foot will not go anywhere without your express written consent.

Also helping in this regard are the XIV’s solid internalized heel counter and artfully molded midsole. Made of Phylon, the midsole envelops the shank like muscle around bone, wrapping around its edges, but leaving much of its core exposed. This upward wrap of the midsole along the base of the midfoot and heel turns it into a sort of cradle that gently but firmly locks your midfoot and heel into place, eliminating even the slightest hint of side-to-side movement at the rear.

Up front, the midsole of the XIV borrows a page from the Air Jordan IX, with molded “fingers” extending up along both sides of the forefoot. As in the IX, they’re meant to ensure that the forepart of the foot never takes any unwanted excursions off the footbed during hard cuts. But, in the case of the XIV, they may be wholly unnecessary, as the shoe’s upper provides lockdown more secure than the solitary block at Riker’s (more on the upper in a minute).

Now, aside from helping enhance support and preventing movement of the foot within the inner, the midsole is also responsible for that minor matter of impact protection, and it is in this most critical of areas that it most brightly shines. That’s because, encapsulated within the Phylon of the midsole are two most excellent Zoom Air units, one under the forefoot and the other under the heel. The low-profile, yet highly responsive wonder known as Zoom Air was introduced to the Jordan line in the Air Jordan XII, honed in the Air Jordan XIII and pretty much perfected in the Air Jordan XIV. I say that because the XIV provides the cushioning trifecta of excellent impact protection, excellent response (i.e. springiness) and excellent court feel. The overall setup may be too minimal for super-sized forwards and centers, but most will find it an absolute delight.

Happily, the Air Jordan’s XIV’s excellent base is not let down by its upper, which, like the outsole, is pretty straightforward. There’s no inner bootie, just a nicely lined and nearly seam-free inner. Fit is provided by way of a standard hidden eyestay lacing system that’s set just wide enough to keep the foot locked in place, but not so wide that the laces exert undue pressure over the instep. As noted above, I felt absolutely no movement within the shoe, either front-to-back or side-to-side. The XIV was essentially one with my foot.
One small but impactful twist to the upper is that its ankle area is backed by memory foam, which is much more dense and cosseting than the light foam normally used to line hoops shoes. The denseness of the foam allows the XIV to provide good support around the base of the ankle without adding a lot of bulk.

The one other unusual aspect of the XIV’s upper is also ankle-related; it’s cut a good deal higher on its medial (inner) side than on the lateral (outer). The purpose of this asymmetrical cut is to simultaneously enhance protection and comfort at the ankle when, usually, an improvement to the one can only come at the expense of the other. The way it works is simple: increased material and coverage on the medial side of the shoe increases support and rigidity against the inner side of the ankle, better enabling the shoe to protect against or, at the very least, mitigate the impact of an ankle inversion (i.e. a rolled ankle, where the foot rolls inwards under the ankle-this is the most common cause of ankle sprains). Since that’s not a concern on the lateral side (there is such a thing as ankle eversion, which is the exact opposite of ankle inversion, but it’s a far less common injury), the upper is cut much lower there, allowing the XIV Mid to deliver rearfoot comfort approaching that of a low. So, essentially, you get the protection of a mid with very nearly the comfort of a low. It’s about as close to having your cake and eating it too as you can get in a hoops shoe (though the free-floating ankle leash design of the Air Jordan XX gives the XIV a run for its money in this department-more on this on page 50.)

Taken together, all of these features and elements add up to a shoe that allows you to play at your best and maybe, just maybe, even a little better than you thought you could. Throughout my two-week test of the Air Jordan XIV, I found myself playing more aggressively and driving more frequently than I normally do. The shoe’s all-around excellence gave me the confidence to go all out and, as you might expect, that had a positive impact on my game. I’m not saying that a pair of XIVs will transform the Joe Averages of the world into Michael Jordans, but it can help the Joe Averages of the world be a little less so.

The only downsides to the XIV are that, as one of only a handful of J’s not yet retroed, it’s hard to find in good condition and, if you’re a big fella, its cushioning may be insufficient. But if you’re an active guard or forward (or even a light center) and you manage to find a pair, snatch them up! The Air Jordan XIV is, like its two principal sources of inspiration-the Ferrari 550 Maranello and Michael Jordan himself-one of those rare examples of near-perfect performance art that comes into being only once in a very long while.

—From Issue 7, article by Professor K