Air Jordan 3 “Desert Elephant”: Sneaker Release Date, Price, Where To Buy

Jordan Brand closes out the month with a new colorway on one of the brand’s most important sneakers. The Air Jordan 3 “Desert Elephant” is set to release on Saturday for a retail price of $200.

The Air Jordan 3 is the favorite model for many in the entire Air Jordan catalog and with very good reason. The first Air Jordan to be designed by the legendary Tinker Hatfield, this is the model which saved the Air Jordan line and potentially Nike. The story goes that Michael Jordan was ready to bolt the Swoosh, but Tinker had taken Jordan’s feedback on his previous models and what he was looking for going forward to heart and delivered a shoe that convinced his Airness that better days were ahead.

Of course, once the shoe was designed Jordan did his part as well, leading the league in points per game (35.0), steals (3.2) and minutes played (40.4). Memorably, Jordan was wearing the Air Jordan 3 for his famous dunk from the foul line during the 1988 NBA Slam Dunk Contest in Chicago and in the All-Star Game as he took home MVP honors in front of his hometown fans.

The Air Jordan 3 is also memorable as it marked the debut of the Mars Blackmon character in commercials for the Air Jordan line. Spike Lee’s character from She’s Gotta Have it would become synonymous with the Air Jordan line, appearing in commercials for every model through the Air Jordan 6 and even making several returns over the years. The Mike and Spike teaming would bring even more mainstream attention to the Air Jordan line.

The colorway releasing on Saturday most closely resembles the famed Black/Cement colorway, swapping out the customary cement for an aged brown to pair with black tumbled leather. The shoe also includes orange accents where red accents normally would be found, including on the eyelets, the outsole’s pivot point as well as branding and on the Jumpman logo on the tongue. Speaking of the Jumpman, the colorway features a “Jumpman Air” logo on the heel as opposed to the OG “Nike Air,” as is customary on non-OG/collab colorways these days.

To see more of this month’s releases, check out our release date calendar.