Air Jordan 7 PE “Ken Griffey Jr.” shoes: Everything we know so far

Frank Cooke, a veteran member of Nike's Jordan Brand NRG team, recently revealed an ultra-exclusive Air Jordan 7 sneaker that was never made public. The upcoming PE is motivated by Ken Griffey Jr.

The Air Jordan 7 PE “Ken Griffey Jr.” variant is not expected to be offered by Jordan Brand anytime soon. We can only hope that Jordan Brand and Griffey will work together again in the future, but we'll have to wait and see if that happens.

---

Nike’s Air Jordan 7 PE “Ken Griffey Jr.” shoes will feature dark teal elements with black underlays

Here's a closer look at the heel counter and collar area of the sample Air Jordan 7 PE Ken Griffey Jr. sneakers (Image via Instagram/@frankcooker)

Baseball players, with the exception of a few, were rarely considered for signature sneakers in 2022. Griffey Jr., a baseball Hall of Famer and longtime Nike athlete regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, had his own "Swingman" line of footwear, which included the Air Griffey Max 1.

The colorway of this Air Jordan 7 was inspired by the player's signature Air Griffey Max 1 silhouette. Along with the dark teal and black color scheme, this shoe pays homage to the Air Griffey Max 1 with large red Swooshes on the forefoot and heel tab.

Not long ago, Frank Cooke shared early images of these sample shoes via his Instagram account. These sneakers surely sent the shock waves through the sneaker world. In his long caption, Frank mentioned:

“Though in this particular year Mike Conley Jr. took home the gold by dunking from the free throw line, it still makes for a pretty cool story. I know collaborations were not a thing back then, but I think it would have been a different outcome had he (Griffey Jr.) worn these AJVIl's during his dunk.”

Take a look at an image of the Foot Locker Slam Fest (Image via Instagram/@frankcooker)

Cooke claims that the unproduced variant was inspired by the Foot Locker Slam Fest, which took place between the late 1980s and the mid 1990s and featured professional sports stars from outside the NBA competing in a slam dunk tournament. Griffey Jr. competed in the Slam Fest in 1990 and 1992, but lost to Hall of Fame wideouts Cris Carter in 1990 and Tim Brown in 1992.

The base layer is made of black nubuck, with aqua-colored nubuck reinforcements visible at the eyelets, midfoot area, collar section, and heel counter. The black tongue flap and collar area contrast with the crisp white laces and branding elements like the Jumpman emblem.

The small, red-embroidered Nike Swoosh on the toe and pull tab add more brightness. The typical "23" marking is visible on the heels while the Jordan Jumpman and Griffey Swingman logos have been combined.

The overall look is completed by a rubber outer sole unit that incorporates all three of the upper colors and a black midsole with white snowy peaks around the toe top and heel counter.

---

Since the pair featured is an old sample, the Air Jordan 7 Retro Ken Griffey Jr PE will sadly not be available anytime soon.