The Air Jordan III (3) broke ground for many different aspects of the Nike Air Jordan shoe line. First, the Air Jordan 3 featured the “Jumpman” on the tongue of the shoe. This silhouette of Jordan was to celebrate and commemorate his Slam Dunk Contest victory the year before. Every Jordan after the Air Jordan 3 features this Jumpman as a focal point of the shoe as well as became the new logo for the Air Jordan line. The Air Jordan 3 was also the first to feature a visible air unit. Lastly, the Air Jordan 3 featured elephant print on the upper. Though this material was only used again on 1 other model, it set a standard that the Jordan shoes are as much fashionable as functional.

Though he was not able to lead the Bulls to a championship in the Air Jordan III, Mike was donned with plenty of hardware. As an All Star, MJ took home not only the Slam Dunk title, but also All Star Game MVP honors. Mike dominated the offensive side of the ball leading the league with 35 points per game, but backed that up defensively by leading the league in steals with 3.2 per game. As the Scoring Champ, Steals Champ, Slam Dunk Champ, All Star MVP, it was not a hard choice by the league to honor Michael Jordan as the league?s Most Valuable Player for the first time in his career that season.