There’s a rumour going round the internet that Michael Jordan was robbed himself at gunpoint for his own personal pair of Jordan’s. We don’t know if this is a true story or not but what is true is that a teenage boy was killed for his pair Jordans and he wasn’t the first and probably not the last.
Since the release of Nike’s Air Jordan 11 Gamma Blue sneaker on Saturday morning fights have broken out in stores across the US between customers keen to get their hands on a pair.
Each year, the highly anticipated release of a new version of limited edition Air Jordans is released and each year, a spate of robberies, assaults, riots and even deaths occur.
This year, photographs from around the country depict frenzied crowds fighting in queues outside sports stores and inside shops.
Store brawl: These young men got into a fight inside a sportswear store as they tried to purchase Air Jordans
In Dallas, police were called to the Southwest Center Mall after a fight broke out in the queue for the shoes.
People had begun lining up to purchase the sneakers overnight in anticipation of the shoe’s release on Saturday morning.
According to Fox Dallas, a group arrived around 6am and tried to cut to the front of the line.
No one injured in the brawl but police remained at the store for the opening to ensure no further sneaker-related rage occurred.
Cult status: Many have questioned the veneration of a shoe named after a player who hasn’t been on-court in more than a decade
In New York, shoppers in the Bronx spoke of fights, ripped clothing and police presence as shoppers, many parents trying to secure a pair of shoes for their children, waited outside Foot Locker.
A shot of the scene posted to Instagram shows a huge crowd watching as a group of girls fought before the store opened.
One shopper explained that the street cred of wearing a pair of Air Jordans made the ordeal worth it.
‘I mean, technically it’s not. But for bragging rights, it is. It is, it’s worth it for bragging rights, it is,’ she told News 12, after she explained that she’d been waiting for 12 hours to get her hands on a pair.
Sneaker freaks: A group of girls brawls in the crowd massed outside a Bronx Foot Locker store awaiting the release of the latest Air Jordans
Last week in Ohio shoppers managed to pull a door entirely off its hinges while they piled into the Champs Sports shop at Eastland Mall.
The shoes were not even on sale until Saturday but the store was handing out vouchers that would enable shoppers to buy the shoes on Saturday.
The shoes retail for $185. A new, limited edition version of Air Jordans are released each year, and each year similar violence and frustration erupts.
In 2012, Joshua Woods, 22, was killed in Houston, Texas shortly after buying a pair of newly-released Air Jordans by four men who followed him from the mall.
His mother, Dazie Williams, has launched a campaign called Life Over Fashion which aims to change the way Nike distributes its sought-after sneakers.
‘Nike nor Michael Jordan didn’t pull the trigger that killed my son, but with great power comes great responsibility. It’s product liability. If your name is on a product, you have to stand up. The first person that got killed [for Jordans] was in 1989, and here we are in 2013,’ she said.
If your a smart Flavourmag reader you would simply go online to Footasylum to get your Air Jordans.