The classic iconic swoosh mark company originates back to the classic year of 1964. That year, Phil Knight, a track athlete and his coach Bill Bowerman at the University Of Oregon, founded a company by the name of Blue Ribbon Sports. The Blue Ribbon Sports symbolized the first place blue ribbon that most athletic competitions such as track and field have featured for years. The sneaker company would not become Nike, Inc until 1971.
You are talking about a Nike company that grosses more than 30 billion dollars each year in athletic shoes and apparel and equipment. The Nike company had over 44,000 people employed worldwide in 2012 and probably thousands more now. With the addition of new services like Nike+ due to technology, Nike has gone under some incredible changes.
Most of the company's first sales were made at track meets out of Knight's car. The company opened it's first retail location in 1966 while still being Blue Ribbon Sports. It was located in Santa Monica, California. The Blue Ribbon Sports company had a little bit of relation with Onitsuka Tiger during the early years. Ontisuka would later become ASICS. That is probably not known by many. In fact, the first Nike sneakers were really just Japanese running shoes.
Nike would later become the owner of several other lines of apparel brands. Such including Converse, Cole Haan and many others. They had also bought Starter which was later sold in 2007. Nike still only owns Converse and Hurley International.
Nike's first shoe line became the Nike Air Max.
There is just a little bit of a backstory for those who know the Nike company and are fans of the very iconic brand. Let's get into the list!
#1 - Air Force 3
This sneaker is just a cool looking basketball shoe. The first year of introduction was 1988. Many college programs and athletes sported these as big players in the NBA really latched on to these later in the 80's.
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#2 - Air Force STS
Two Air Force models back to back. It's not hard to see why there are so many sneakers and deals available for the Air Force line of shoes. The sneakers never really lost hype. However, the STS was special because it was a bulky high top basketball shoe that had a random cement print become added to it. This sneaker came a year after the AF 3 model in 1989. It still a very cool retro shoe today.
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#3 - Nike Zoom Hyperfuse
Another cool Nike shoe line of a model that I have actually owned a couple of pairs of. They aren't the best sneakers ever made by Nike, but they certainly were not bad for basketball and that's why I could trust this model. The original Hyperfuse looks really cool and has that mesh material that is just really favorable.
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#4 - Nike Air Max Plus
I will admit it, I have never been a loyal customer to the Nike Air Max line. However, I did own a pair of Nike Air Max Torch 4's a couple years back. They were by far the best sneakers that lasted me a really long time. They lasted me for the better part of a year and a half almost 2. Now that I think about it, I have never had another shoe last that long. Sure, they didn't look the best after about a year and a quarter wear on them, but what do you expect. I was really impressed by the quality of those and I never had a problem too often wearing them. Finally, in the last two months of ownership of them, the bottom sole blew out and there was always a flopping motion from the back heel part of the bottom sole. However, the original Air Max Plus looks really cool and especially in this orange/black colorway that is shown below. Originally released in 1998.
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#5 - Nike Air Max 2009
The 2009 release of the Air Max is what some consider the best updated version of the time. The market for them really had a turning point then and that's what has made the Air Max so popular now. All the different color options available and the comfort in wearing them. Sure, these were a little odd starting out and how they felt, but if you wore them and broke them in, eventually these shoes just had that great broke-in feel to them that you just laced up and felt good about all day. They were a really nice shoe for me and that's why I respect that model of Air Max Torch 4's. Anyways, I do dig this white/black/orange colorway.
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#6 - Nike Air Flight One
This sneaker definitely looks cool enough that I could see this easily being the first sneaker model released in a line. if this sneaker had really developed it's own line, yeah, this first one would really have hit the spot. However, the Flight series is really not something too common for Nike nowadays and it's Air Jordan Flights that get's everybody talking. Anyways, a pretty cool looking OG pair of sneaks. These originally came out 1994.
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#7 - Air Solo Flight
This shoe is just really awesome. Looking at this shoe, the white/black OREO style colorway on these just makes these a perfect looking basketball sneaker. They definitely have a interesting nature to them that does make me want to own a pair of these in this same colorway shown below. Another really good sneaker. These go back to 1989!
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#8 - Lebron 8
The sneaker that famously changed the game with the "South Beach" colorway that Jason Petrie designed. The sneaker had a lighter build to it, the colors more favorable and just a really good basketball sneaker all around. This sneaker was released at a time where the high rank basketball shoes were hard to come by and this sorta set that stage of what a above average basketball sneaker should of been like. It's release was 2010.
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#9 - Nike Air Griffey Max
I really got to agree with this shoe. The Nike Air Griffey is a sneaker that I really like only one colorway of and I think it's really cool. Probably the best color option my personal opinion is the one shown below, these are a pretty awesome basketball sneaker and would definitely want a pair of these in the near future. Maybe for Christmas would be a definite good time to see about a pair of these. Of course, I can always score me a really great priced Jordan 4 White Cement. Maybe I can get both? Awesome really!
Image: bridgehousemission.co.uk
#10 - Nike Air Yeezy 2009
The Nike Air Yeezy's from 2009 were Kanye West's first major sneakerboots that featured a midsole strap near the middle of the sneaker. These actually look pretty sweet and you compare this to the Adidas Yeezy 750, it's not hard to see that there was some relation. However, the material of the midsole strap would of been really nice and they have that really nice rubber feel to them. That's what really put this sneaker on the map, the great materials although it came from a iffy signature person such as Kanye West. I find the brown colorway the best yet the black/grey/pink sneaker colorway isn't bad at all either.
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#11 - Nike Air Flight Huarache
A sneaker and a runner/jogger model that was sorta wrapped into one. This sneaker really was a gamechanger and was probably unlike most Nike shoes at it's time. The sneaker is a really well made shoe and the feel of them is incredible. They don't have any real resemblance of any other type of model of sneakers Nike has ever made. This is a truly unique sneaker that is definitely a great shoe.
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#12 - Air Jordan VI
This sneaker is just another really cool Air Jordan sneaker that is just really well made. The black/white/red colorway is really nice and I really like what the shoe brand did with these ones. I really like the J-O-R-D-A-N and A-I-R spelling mix on the tongue of these sneakers. That's why I have to say the Air Jordan Spizike's really are one of my more favorite AJ models of all time.
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#13 - Nike Zoom Kobe V
It's hard not to include this sneaker in such a stellar lineup of sneakers that this list features. This shoe is definitely one of the coolest looking early Kobe models ever made and I really like the design and colorway of these shoes.
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#14 - Nike KD 7
The KD 7 has so many colorway options and so many special colorways that it's not even funny. Currently the three favorite colorways of Nike KD 7's I really like are the Global Game colorway, the Hyper Orange/Grey colorway and the What The KD 7 colorway was just all really cool. The sneakers are a really comfortable shoe and definitely one of KD's best sneaker models.
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#15 - Air Jordan 3
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#16 - Air Jordan 4
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