The Air Jordan 4 is a top tier Jordan—there’s no debating that. It’s the second Air Jordan model designed by Tinker Hatfield, the sneaker design GOAT whose work on the Air Jordan 3 helped keep Michael Jordan at Nike. It has iconic moments on court—just ask Craig Ehlo—and in the culture—just ask Buggin’ Out. It has a lot of juice right now especially, thanks to a new generation of Air Jordan fans who latched onto the model during the pandemic.
What is up for debate is the relative greatness of its individual colorways. The Jordan 4 is a sneaker with a deeper catalog of truly great colorways than almost any other Air Jordan. Which ones are the best? We went to work at the hard task of answering that question by sitting around and discussing the best Air Jordan 4 colorways for a few hours and then trying to rank them relative to each other. There were tough questions to tackle: The “Lightning” is great, but does the “Thunder” make the cut? Is “Black Cement” better than “White Cement”? Do that many people really care about the original “Military Blue” Jordan 4? We did our best to answer those in this, our ranking of the best Air Jordan 4s of all time. The biggest caveat here is that we kept this to sneakers that have actually been released, so keep that in mind before you lose your mind over your favorite player exclusives or samples not making the cut.
Year Released: 2018
How deep is the Air Jordan 4 on good colorways? So deep that a shoe this strong, which tastefully applies legit Levi’s denim to the always-appropriate combo of white midsoles and gum outsoles, just barely makes the cut for this list. One of the best things about the Levi’s x Air Jordan 4 project is that all three of the colorways were good—that isn’t always the case with modern collaborations, which increasingly involve multiple versions rather than one standout. Thankfully, these were all standouts, from the necessary blue jeans pair to the black denim to the crispy white, which was the canvas for some great dye jobs when these first hit. —Brendan Dunne
Year Released: 2006
Yellow shoes don’t sell. Just ask a product line manager at a big sneaker brand, and they’ll tell you how tough it is to move shoes in that shade. But they can still look pretty good. Rarely has a yellow sneaker looked better than the “Lightning” Air Jordan 4, a colorway that came out first in 2006 and struck for a second time in 2021. It was an unorthodox shoe when it debuted, releasing as an online exclusive packaged with a matching shirt and sold at the bold price of $250. (For comparison, other Jordan 4 retros from that era clocked in at $115.) Nobody needed the shirt, but they snapped this shoe up anyway because the “Lightning” Air Jordan 4 was just that good. If this were a longer list, the “Thunder” could have made the cut, too, but we’re giving the nod here to the flashier pair of the duo. —Brendan Dunne
Year Released: 1989
Usually when we put together these rankings of the best colorways for a given Air Jordan model, we throw all the original ones up toward the top by default. In general, it’s the right call—Air Jordans just rarely ever look as good as they did when they first came out. This time though, we’re making an exception for a colorway that’s often felt like a stepchild in the lineup of original Air Jordans from the 1980s. Why doesn’t the “Military Blue” Air Jordan 4 hold up as well as some of its peers? Maybe it’s the way the flimsy earlier retros cheapened its legacy. Maybe it’s because the shoe lacks meaningful moments connected to Jordan himself. Either way, even though it feels sacrilegious to rank an OG this low, consider that any other shoe higher up on this list (and maybe even the ones below it) would be a bigger deal than the “Military Blue” if it came back tomorrow. —Brendan Dunne
Year Released: 2020
This shoe shouldn’t be on the list, at least if we were going from the reaction it received when everyone first saw it. The Union x Air Jordan 4 might have had the worst possible rollout of any sneaker ever. The shoe was first leaked on the internet with one of the most unflattering photos of all time. Nearly everyone thought the shoe looked awful. And then we got the official images, and the story about how Union owner Chris Gibbs wanted to cut the tongue off the Air Jordan 4. And making it this way was a compromise between him and Jordan Brand. It also had a mesh toebox. And the first two colorways, the black/red/blue and what is referred to as “Guava Ice,” were awesome. The latter was a personal favorite of mine, something I imagined being worn on Muscle Beach in the early ‘90s. It became a grail for many, especially the black pair. It even allowed for a second Union x Air Jordan 4 collaboration. But the first two pairs are the best. They’ve held up so far and I don’t see that changing. —Matt Welty
Year Released: 2018
Before Travis Scott was making just about every single one of his sneakers brown, there was his Air Jordan 4—the rapper’s first official collaboration with the Jumpman. Decked out in a light “University Blue” suede, the pair serves as an homage to the Houston Oilers, the team once based in Travis’ home city. Paint splatter adds some extra flare to the heel tab with “Travis Scott” written upside down on the inside of one of the tongues where “Air Jordan” usually is. While this is the only Travis 4 you’ll find on this list, it’s not the only one that exists. The purple and olive friends and family versions rank high on the power rankings of hard-to-get 4s. They didn’t drop, so they don’t count here. —Ben Felderstein
Year Released: 2023
How could you make the Air Jordan 4 better? Make it for skateboarding. If that wasn’t obvious to you, the reader, then here’s how it happened. In 2023, the Air Jordan 4 SB was made to fit better, be more flexible, and more durable, all for skateboarding. It was weartested by some of the best in the game: Eric Koston, Paul Rodriguez, and Elissa Steamer, just to name a few. They gave their feedback and created the ultimate Air Jordan 4. It released in one colorway, and a surprising one at that: white/green/gum, with just a touch of red. It wasn’t what many would expect. But it worked. And the build worked so well that it was used for subsequent Air Jordan 4 releases, making the shoe fit better in the process. This sneaker changed the game and one of the most legendary shoes ever. Hard task to accomplish, but it happened. And for those reasons, it was the sneaker of the year in 2023. —Matt Welty
Year Released: 2020
We’ve been clamoring for the “Bred” version of Virgil Abloh’s Off-White x Air Jordan 4 to drop ever since it first surfaced at the late designer’s “Figures of Speech” exhibit in 2019 at the MCA Chicago. But until then, we’re more than satisfied with the [dramatic pause] off-white colorway that did release. As good as the “Bred” version may be, the women’s “Sail” version from 2020 more closely aligns with the aesthetic of Abloh’s original “The Ten” collection that kicked off his Nike partnership. The tonal look allows the series of deconstructed and translucent panels and layers to showcase the complex design of the Air Jordan 4. Even being multiple decades old, the presentation led us to appreciate the shoe in a way we hadn’t discovered before. Its release was memorable too—despite dropping in extended sizes to allow men to participate in the launch, early access was given exclusively to women through the SNKRS app. —Zac Dubasik
Year Released: 2005
2005 is a tricky era for Air Jordan retros. It’s a golden era for many. It might be when you first got into sneakers. And it was the first time that Jordan Brand went all in on retros. Sure there were retros before this time, but this was the period where we saw a full-fledged push on giving consumers archival Jordans in all sorts of flavors, OG or not. Some of those shoes were good, some are best left in the past. One of the shoes people can’t seem to forget though (mainly Joe La Puma) is the Air Jordan 4 “Black Laser.” It’s a black Jordan 4 that featured the lasering treatment created by Nike designer Mark Smith. This is one of the best lasered Nikes, mainly because it’s so subtle. You have to look close to see the lasering on the black leather upper, which is in a premium leather. You can hardly wear the 2005 pairs, but people still want them. I got a pair a few years ago and sold them for like 8 hundred, shout out to my aper PG, in a few days. Sounds like they need a retro. —Matt Welty
Year Released: 2011
When 11-year old Isaiah Scott was designing the Doernbecher Air Jordan 4 in 2011, it’s hard to imagine that he knew he had one of, if not the greatest Doernbecher sneaker designs of all time on his hands. Taking inspiration from the iconic 2009 Dunk Contest between Dwight Howard and Nate Robinson, it features a Superman logo on the tongue harkening back to Robinson’s insane dunk over the 7-footer. Scott’s mom even nicknamed her son Superman because he was “strong as steel.” The Superman story continues with a blue, yellow, and red outsole resembling the hero’s supersuit, as well as comic book word bubbles and neon green laces that reminded Scott of kryptonite. Other details include a picture of the designer on the shoe’s lateral heel and up and down arrows meant to resemble the ups and downs in life. Without question, the Doernbecher Freestyle program is one of the most important projects Nike does on a yearly basis, allowing children to get a chance to design their own sneakers, putting personal touches on models that would are otherwise gatekept by Nike designers. To this day it is one of the most revered Doernbecher collaborations ever created, and one of the most unique Air Jordan 4s as well. — Ben Felderstein
Year Released: 2017
The Kaws x Air Jordan 4 didn’t drop until 2017, but the Brooklyn-based artist had been connected to sneakers for over a decade prior, both directly through his Bape and Nike collabs, and indirectly with his OriginalFake brand and general popularity amongst the streetwear crowd. In fact, at the time, this almost seemed like a project that came too late. The important thing though is that when it did happen, it delivered. Rather than taking the more obvious routes with vinyl details from his popular collectable toys or bright pop art-inspired panels, Kaws zeroed in on his greyscale Companion work, then layered on different textures of suede with tonal embroidery and a glow-in-the-dark sole to add even more visual interest. It was unmistakably Kaws, yet not at all what we would have expected. A black colorway followed later that year that was equally well received. What makes the project even more impressive is how well it’s aged. Whereas his prior sneaker collabs feel very much a part of the mid-2000s era they came from, this Air Jordan 4 doesn’t feel out of place still today. —Zac Dubasik
Year Released: 2006
The “Black Cat” Air Jordan 4 has been through a lot since its original 2006 release. Sure, back then if you were all in on triple-black Js it was a sure-shot, but the story of the shoe has had some notable twists and turns compared to others on this list. The price exploding out of nowhere in 2020 (whoops), it becoming the official Air Jordan of dancing TikTokers during the pandemic (hmmm), and you not being able to go anywhere in the City without seeing possibly (but most likely) reps on people’s feet (damn).
All of that speaks to just how perfect of a 4 this is. Sometimes a lot of different factors from a lot of different places contribute to the hype of a sneaker, and this is a prime example. If you were like me in 2020, you stocked up on multiple pairs. But if not, you’ll get another chance this year with the release coming down the pike. Most sneakerheads hold the “Bred” and “White Cement” 4s as the 1A and 1B of Air Jordan 4s, but it may be time to admit the Black Cats are right there. Now if we could only get that SB sample made… —Joe La Puma
Year Released: 1989
The “White Cement” Air Jordan 4 was featured in Do The Right Thing, and the “Bred” Air Jordan 4 had “The Shot”—legendary moments in pop culture and sports history, respectively. While Michael Jordan did wear the “Fire Red” Air Jordan 4 on court, it’s hard to match up to the grand nature of the aforementioned colorways. But it’s not far off. What the “Fire Red” Air Jordan 4 does have going for it is the most unique design of the original pairs, with the contrasting backing to the netting offering a different blocking than its peers. It was unmistakably a Chicago Bulls look, utilizing more red than any of the other OG versions. In 2005, Jordan Brand gave the colorway the full laser treatment, and a year later it released a “Mars” edition of the “Fire Reds,” which featured an image of Spike Lee’s iconic Mars Blackmon character on the heel in tribute to the legendary ad campaign. It may only be the third best original colorway of the Air Jordan 4, but its standing in sneaker history is strong. —Zac Dubasik
Year Released: 2005
Yes, this sneaker is that good. This olive and orange Air Jordan 4, designed in partnership with pioneering sneaker boutique Undefeated, was the first time Jordan Brand ever reached out to a partner like this for a full-on collaboration. It doesn’t sound that special now, in an era when sneaker company collab labs are nonstop factories of uninspired duds, but back then, it really meant something. The green and orange combo is also just a timeless colorway and—yes, we’re committing to this—a better “military” execution on the Air Jordan 4 than the “Military Blue” Air Jordan 4. While it technically did release, it’s a unicorn of an Air Jordan, one of the first really rare ones in the new millennium that showed Jordan Brand was willing to explicitly cater to sneakerheads in the same way other groups at Nike were. We’re fully content to bump this shoe down a few slots on here if the 2025 retro comes around and nobody cares, but we don’t see Undefeated chalking up an L with the retro. They don’t call them Undefeated for no reason. —Brendan Dunne
Year Released: 1989
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: it’s basically a toss up when comparing “White Cement” and “Black Cement.” That goes for the Air Jordan 3 and the Air Jordan 4 after it, both of which were anchored in their original runs by a duo of clean Bulls-adjacent colorways that skimped a bit on the red in favor of grey. The Air Jordan 4 “White Cement” is one of the most distinct original Air Jordans for its maverick use of that flecked concrete print that decorates the accents, which almost felt like an answer to the Air Jordan 3’s elephant print. Jordan wore the shoe of course, but so did Giancarlo Esposito, who gave the “White Cement” Jordan 4 one of its biggest pop culture moments when he crashed out over some white dude running his pair over in the Spike Lee joint Do the Right Thing. Esposito as Buggin’ Out was right to do so—this shoe is impeccably clean, and deserves to be kept that way. The crispy white might be a little harder to get regular wear out of than the “Black Cement” though, so that’s why it just barely falls short of the apex here. —Brendan Dunne
Year Released: 1989
Much like our greatest Air Jordan 3s of all time list, this one started with a sneaker already penciled in at the No. 1 spot. Even more similarly, it’s the same colorway, “Black Cement.” There are a number of sneakers throughout Jordan’s illustrious career that are tied to iconic moments, but the “Black Cement” 4s might just have the strongest tie. In Game 5 of the first round of the 1989 Eastern Conference Playoff series against the Cavaliers, MJ hit “The Shot” over Craig Ehlo, propelling Chicago to a series win and cementing (pun intended) this sneaker’s legacy forever. On top of the shoe’s historical context, it features a classic Chicago Bulls color scheme and a premium nubuck upper. As with the Jordan 3 in the same scheme, the “Black Cement” just feels a bit more versatile. We’ve seen the colorway return a number of times since ’89 including a reimagined iteration equipped with leather uppers as opposed to the original durabuck. It’s almost impossible to have the Air Jordan 4 conversation without starting and ending right here. —Ben Felderstein
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