Some shoes get famous from commercials. The Bred 4 got famous from nine-tenths of a second of hang time.
May 7, 1989
Game 5, first round, Bulls at Cavs. Three seconds left. Jordan takes the inbound, rises from the foul line extended — and stays up there while Craig Ehlo falls past him — then buries the buzzer-beater. 'The Shot' becomes one of the most replayed moments in NBA history, and on Jordan's feet in every replay: the black-and-red Air Jordan 4.
Tinker's global machine
The 4 was Tinker Hatfield's second Air Jordan, and where the 3 was luxury, the 4 was equipment: mesh panels, plastic wing eyelets you could lace seven different ways, over-molded support. It was also the first Air Jordan released worldwide — the moment the Jordan line stopped being an American phenomenon and went planetary. Four original 1989 colorways: White Cement, Black Cement, Military Blue, and Fire Red. (Cool Grey came much later — a quiz question that catches people every time.)
Spike put it in the movies
The same year, Spike Lee laced the Cement 4 into Do the Right Thing — Buggin' Out's scuffed pair becoming a whole scene about what sneakers mean on a block. The 4 has belonged to street culture as much as basketball ever since, which is why Travis Scott, Union, and A Ma Maniére have all lined up to reinterpret it.
The pair to know
The 2019 'Bred' retro (308497-060) brought back Nike Air branding on the heel for the first time since 1989, and the culture treated it like a homecoming. Check what it trades for now on its catalog page — then test yourself on The Shot's details in the Arcade. Real ones know who fell.
