SOLE COLLECTOR: Sneakers

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Key Tech: Blow-molded Air (heel), Zoom Air (forefoot), composite midfoot shank, full-length inner-bootie construction

Use: Hoops, Indoor

Position: Guard/Forward

Colorway Tested: Black/Varsity Red

Price: $160

Pros: Very comfortable; very good fit and support around the midfoot and ankle; firm, supportive cushioning with good response under the ball of the foot; relatively light and feels even lighter than it is

Cons: Could have used a bit more support around the base of the heel; middling traction † (the other colorways of the XVI, particularly the Whisper/Cherrywood/Light Graphite XVI+ release, provide far better traction and rate an overall grade of “A”); remarkably sloppy finish on the midsole; magnetic gaiter is gimmicky; expensive

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SWEET XVI

THE XVI MARKED THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE AIR JORDAN II way back in 1986 that an Air Jordan shoe would not be designed by Tinker Hatfield. With MJ having stepped away from the game over two-and-a-half years prior and Hatfield now taking his leave from a hands-on design role, the XVI had the potential to be a disastrous release. But thanks to the sure hands of Wilson Smith, a Nike veteran who’s worked with Hatfield for much of his 17-plus-year career at the Swoosh, it was anything but (as an aside, Smith’s tenure with the company now spans more than 20 years, though he’s since moved on from Jordan to become Footwear Design Director for Nike Tennis).

And this shouldn’t have come as a surprise, as Smith has penned some much loved shoes of his own over the years, including the Air Flare (the shoe in which Andre Agassi won his first U.S. Open in 1994) and Air More Uptempo (the shoe worn by Scottie Pippen through his second Olympic Gold Medal winning run in 1996). Interestingly, he, like Hatfield, studied architecture and started his work life as an architect, initially serving as Hatfield’s assistant in corporate architecture for Nike. As Smith likes to say, he’s since moved on to designing “homes for the feet.”

His history in architecture seems to have worked its way into the XVI, which re-introduces a structural look not seen in the Jordan line since the days of the VI, VII and VIII. I say that because much of the XVI’s upper is made up of a fabric mesh reinforced with a skeletal overlay of tough, non-stretch durabuck that, to me at least, evokes images of the famous John Hancock Tower in downtown Chicago.

This combination is further reinforced by a sort of leather rand that wraps around the base of the upper for added support and protection, and the whole shebang is topped off by a shiny, patent leather toe cap. One funky aspect of the XVI is that it comes with a removable magnetic gaiter designed to cover the mesh portions of the upper, but since the gaiter is-as the box warns- “not recommended for use during game play,” I won’t go into it here other than to say that it has no bearing on the shoe’s performance.

The extensive use of mesh results in a lightweight shoe that, for whatever reason, feels even lighter than the scale tells me it is. Inside, the XVI’s full-length inner bootie delivers plush comfort with surprisingly good support over the midfoot and around the ankle. The only thing the upper left me wanting more of was support around the base of my heel and that, it turns out, actually has more to do with the design of the XVI’s midsole than the material above it.

You see, the XVI is the first Air Jordan since the II (i.e. since Hatfield took the design reigns) to feature a midsole that is essentially flat around its perimeter. Every J of the Hatfield-era, by contrast, featured a midsole that was sculpted to cup the base of the foot, with particular attention paid to the rearfoot. The XVI, with its flat-topped midsole, clearly lacks this, but Smith doesn’t leave us completely out to dry at the rear; standing in for the cupsole design is an extra-beefy internalized heel counter. That heel counter does an excellent job stabilizing the rear of the foot, but, regardless of its solidity, just can’t seem to match the base-of-foot support of a midsole cradling the heel from below.

Outside of being MIA for that function, the midsole performs its duties admirably. Augmented with a Zoom Air unit up front and blow-molded Air at the rear, the XVI provides excellent impact protection that feels both responsive and reassuringly firm. Court feel is also top-notch.

The only significant negative I have to report is in the area of traction. When I first tested the Air Jordan XVI for Kicksology.net back in early 2001, traction was quite poor. But, like the clear-soled VI before it, the XVI’s level of grip seems to have improved with age. On busting out the shoe for this re-test, I was happily surprised to find that I wasn’t sliding around the court as I had the first time around. Unfortunately, unlike the VI, the XVI’s traction only progressed from poor to about okay. While I wasn’t slipping and sliding, neither was I feeling the rubber of the outsole biting into the hardwood (on the positive, having spent some time in the other colorways of the XVI, I can report that this problem seems limited to the Black/Varsity Red release-of the lot, the strangely appealing Whisper/Cherrywood/Light Graphite XVI+ colorway seems to be tops in the traction department).

So, the Air Jordan XVI represents a sort of passing of the design torch at Jordan. Yes, as we now know, Hatfield would come back to design the XX, but that’s an exception. From now on, others will build on the remarkable foundation he’s laid down. The first to do so was Wilson Smith and, with his design for the XVI, he’s given this latest act in the Air Jordan saga a promising start. The shoe has its faults, but most are cosmetic and with its light weight, supportive feel over the midfoot, surprisingly good ankle support and excellent cushioning, it’s one of the Jordans I most enjoy playing in (though only in colorways other than the Black/Varsity Red).

—From Issue 7, article by Professor K