Originally released in 1992, the Nike Air Raid was built for the perils of playing basketball outside on the asphalt. With the criss-crossing straps and flat rubber sole, the Nike Air Raid prepared you for battle on the blacktop. The “For Outdoor Use Only” inscribed on the bottom only added to its rugged mystique. It’s iconic enough that the Nike Air Raid inspired Jerry Lorenzo’s aptly titled “Nike Air Fear of God Raid” from his collaboration’s Spring/Summer 2019 collection.

Jordan ended his career with the Bulls with an epic three-peat on the court and an almost equally impressive stretch of signature sneakers. Jordan technically finished his Bulls career (and hit his famous Last Shot) in the Jordan XIV, but it was the iconic Jordan XI followed by the underrated XIIs and XIIIs that saw the bulk of the work during the last Bulls three-peat. Following up the XI—which, to this day, warrants tons of sales and attention—was a difficult task, but Hatfield hit it out of the park with the Japanese flag-inspired XII and the “Black Cat”-influenced XIII.

Other Air Maxes get all the shine, but the Air Max 180 remains one of the most underrated Nike designs in the archive. The 180 is the product of a collaboration between Nike’s two most famous designers: Hatfield and Bruce Kilgore (man behind the Air Force 1). The silhouette is smooth and the colorways are vibrant and they could often be found on the feet of one Michael Jordan during the “Dream Team” days.

The Nike Air Trainer SC was the follow up to the uber successful Nike Air Trainer 1, Hatfield’s groundbreaking foray into the “cross-trainer” category.

The Air Trainer SC (now known as the Air Trainer III) debuted in 1988 and would build on the Air Trainer 1’s versatile design, featuring a full-length Phylon midsole, visible Air sole unit and a rubber outsole in a waffle pattern.

Design tweaks aside, the Air Trainer SC’s claim to fame is its association with its legendary endorser, Bo Jackson. Its Auburn-inspired colorway, a nod to Jackson’s alma mater, and “Medicine Ball” iterations remain the SC’s most popular versions. The Nike and Bo partnership grew stronger than ever through iconic advertising and quality product, with the Air Trainer SC being an important piece. No matter which sport Jackson—himself a multi-sport pro athlete in NFL Football and MLB Baseball—picked up, this trainer was ready to play. If anyone who knows how to properly pair a product with its celebrity endorser, Tinker knows.

It’s hard to distinguish which model ranks higher between the Jordan V and Jordan VI. While not the first sneakers Hatfield would work on for Michael Jordan, it’s clear that at this period he was hitting his stride after coming out of the gate with what the single greatest signautre sneaker line of all time.

Hatfield started designing Air Jordans with the Jordan III (more on that shortly) and wouldn’t take a break from the line until completing the XV. The Jordan V and VI land on this list at this spot because of his incredible design and uncanny ability to pull inspiration from anything.

Hatfield notoriously pulled Jordan designs from a wide-ranging host of inspirations, with the V taking nods from both a World War II fighter jet and a shark, while the VI was famously inspired by MJ’s German sports car, signifying both speed and class on the court. The V introduced a 3M tongue while the VI sported a neoprene sleeve and translucent rubber sole.

Jordan wore the VI when he won his first championship in 1991 and began to cement his legacy on the court. It was a long road for Jordan to his first trophy, but Hatfield came right out of the gate with four straight.

The Air Max 90 has become ubiquitous in the sneaker world over the last 30 years. Originally known as the Air Max III until 2000, the Air Max 90 played a big role in enhancing the retro market for Nike.

The Air Max 90 has been released in seemingly every color combination known to man, but it made its debut in Nike’s Infrared colorway. With that bright red hugging that visible Nike Air unit, it’s hard to miss. While the Air Max 1 established the Air Max line, it’s the Air Max 90 that proved the sneaker line’s staying power, rooting it into a series that would receive regular releases and, more importantly, innovations. As they say, “the third time's the charm.”

It might not be the pinnacle of technological advancement that it once was, but it could be argued that it’s the most popular Air Max of all time (at least, behind the Air Max 1). The Air Max 90 has reached Air Force 1 levels of ubiquity and versatility over the ensuing decades since its release. Receiving love in Virgil Abloh’s now-iconic “The Ten”, it’s hard to overlook this sneaker.

Solely in terms of innovation, the MAG should be much higher on this list. But since its purpose is more as a novelty and a piece of movie magic, this is a solid spot.

The Nike MAG is truly unlike anything we’ve ever seen, especially when it made its debut in 1989 in the film Back to the Future II. Hatfield set out to create something futuristic with self-lacing capabilities and an illuminated outsole. Needing decades to truly create this shoe the way he envisioned it for the masses, Nike finally finished the MAG in 2011, as a small amount of shoes were auctioned off on eBay to benefit the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s disease research. They received a limited release to the public in 2016. The latter iteration is the model with a primitive form of Nike’s Adapt technology, and are able to self-lace like the sneakers in the movie.

Yes, the MAG is an awesome piece of movie memorabilia and an objectively cool shoe, but the futuristic aspects of it that Hatfield thought were so far out of reach when he conceived it in 1989, he actually helped make come to life decades later. The MAG and the Nike design team’s relentless pursuit of pushing both design and technological boundaries helped create futuristic sneakers like the Nike HyperAdapt and the Adapt BB.

Today, Hatfield oversees Nike’s “Innovation Kitchen,” which is appropriate since he’s been innovating since the day he stepped foot on campus.

Since debuting in February 1989, the Jordan IV has since taken on a life of its own.

First, it was the shoe Jordan wore when he drowned a last-second shot to eliminate the Cleveland Cavaliers from the 1989 NBA Playoffs. The indelible moment is appropriately dubbed “The Shot” and it still plays on sports highlight packages to this day.

Second, the Jordan IV was the first in the Jordan line to go Hollywood, as it played a prominent role in Spike Lee’s 1989 classic Do The Right Thing. Spike and Jordan worked together on the commercials for the Jordan III and IV with the legendary Mars Blackmon ads, but seeing that shoe on the big screen helped cement Jordan as a Hollywood icon long before Space Jam hit theaters.

Jordans have always been just as important off the court as they were on it, and the Jordan IV made everyone around the world realize that.

One day on a water skiing trip, Hatfield popped his foot into a slalom ski, which has a neoprene bootie. He had a vision about how cool this would be for a new shoe, and the next day, he sketched out what would become the Air Huarache.

Named for the indigenous Mexican sandal, the sock-like material hugged the foot (and the accompanying marketing encouraged it), making its fit closer than most athletic shoes. In hindsight, with the proliferation of sock-like sneakers, you could consider this design to be a precursor to an entire generation of sneakers with minimal builds and uppers designed around the entire foot. With no firm back heel counter akin to the braided leather construction of the namesake sandal, Hatfield added an exoskeleton to harness the neoprene and the Huarache was born.

Executives at Nike weren’t fans of the iconic Swoosh logo being absent from the shoe, but Hatfield remained undeterred.

“It didn’t need a Swoosh,” said Hatfield, “because people knew that only Nike could think of this crazy idea and then pull it off.” He was right. The Huarache has been reimagined in so many ways since originally releasing in 1991, with multiple iterations tapping into the model’s background in both free running and unconventional uppers.

Speaking of pioneers, how many sneaker designers can say that they designed an entirely new genre of sneaker?

The cross-training market was virtually non-existent before Hatfield created the Nike Air Trainer 1 in 1987. After watching athletes at the gym bring in multiple pairs of shoes for different workouts like weight training and running, Hatfield set out to create a catch-all sneaker for the various rigors of athletic training.

The Air Trainer 1 features a lateral outrigger, foot strap, encapsulated Air unit and rubber outsole. It’s no wonder Bo Jackson eventually became the face of the Air Trainer line, because this sneaker line was designed for a myriad of sports. Prior to the sneaker’s official release, tennis player John McEnroe received a pair of Air Trainer 1s in 1986. While the sneakers were sent without an expectation that McEnroe would actually want to wear them, the model’s combination of strength, stability and responsiveness made it perfect for the stop-start nature of tennis. Going from an unlikely prototype to on-court success, Nike admits that—after winning his next two tournaments, McEnroe refused to return the Air Trainer 1 prototypes (he asked for more).

The Air Trainer 1 has seen numerous retros and colorways, and it remains one of the most popular Nikes of all time. More importantly, it goes down in history as being a trailblazer, much like its designer.

In 1987, Tinker Hatfield put Air on display with the original Nike Air Max 1.

The revolutionary Air Max 1 debuted the visible Air bubble that has since been a trademark of not just every Air Max model, but most performance Nike models ever since.

The Air Max 1 took inspiration from the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, a museum of modern art completed in 1977. Hatfield appreciated the idea of the inner workings out in the open, and used the building’s concept to insist on pulling back the curtain on the Air cushioning unit. The exposed infrastructure of the building made it unpopular with Parisians and, fittingly, Hatfield’s suggestion was met with resistance from his fellow Nike designers. However, the exposed Air bubble was more than aesthetic; a technological choice, the clear window didn’t confine the Air cushioning in a single place, allowing it to expand and provide greater support.

While initially dubbed, the “Air Max” at the time of launch, the fact that it has evolved into the moniker of the “Air Max 1” is an indicator that Hatfield’s work expanded into a globally-successful sneaker line. A new beginning for Nike, the Air Max line (and the Air Max 1) remains a force 30 years later.

With Michael Jordan back on a basketball court in 1995, it was necessary that he would have a new sneaker that would match the moments that were on the horizon. Hatfield once again delivered.

Jordan wore the Jordan XI, in all its patent leather glory, during the infamous 72-10 Bulls season in 1995-96 while capturing his fourth NBA championship, his first since his (first) retirement. That retirement is why the OG Jordan XI (notably, the “Concords”) boast Jordan’s comeback number—“45”—instead his signature “23.”

Aside from the Jordan narrative, the Jordan XI was chock full of new design innovations. From the carbon fiber plate within the outsole (for on-court stability) to the lacing system to the now legendary patent leather, the XI instantly became a fan favorite. Hatfield added it because it’s lighter than leather and tends not to stretch as much, but more importantly it lends a touch of class and flashiness. According to Nike, Jordan’s desire to use patent leather would ensure the Jordan XI “would be a hit off the court, even going as far as saying people would wear them on red carpets and at other formal events.”

Like the Jordan IV, the XI made its way into the movies as well, receiving a nice close up in Jordan’s acting debut Space Jam. Initially a movie-exclusive pair, Jordan would wear the Jordan XI “Space Jam” on the court during the 1995 NBA Playoffs, but the model didn’t officially release to the public until 2000.

The XI remains Jordan Brand’s most bankable shoe and the anchor of its annual holiday releases. Hatfield thinks it might be his all-time favorite shoe because of all the technological achievements, but fans still love it because it’s bold and beautiful.

The Jordan III and the XI are both incredible creations by Hatfield and are accompanied by some of the greatest moments Michael Jordan has ever created on a basketball court. But the III, thanks to its technological advances, groundbreaking branding and signature elephant print, gets the nod as Hatfield’s greatest design.

The Jordan III was Hatfield’s first time working with Jordan and he pushed the designer—and the sneaker line—to its limits from the onset. Hatfield sat with Jordan and learned about how he played so he could craft something to suit his style.

He took a chance and introduced the Jumpman logo for the first time on a sneaker. He slapped the Nike Air bubble in an Air Jordan for the first time. He scoured the globe for luxury materials that played to Michael’s sensibilities. Throw in MJ jumping from the foul line in the dunk contest and those signature Mars Blackmon commercials, and you have a recipe for the greatest sneaker of all time. Let’s not forget: Tinker did all this while Nike was worried that Jordan would leave the company.

Hatfield delivered his greatest work under tremendous pressure and who knows what would have happened to him, Nike, or the Air Jordan line if he had come up short. The III stands the test of time as an all-around icon in sports, fashion and pop culture (lest we forget Spike Lee’s turn as the legendary Mars Blackmon).

Sneakerheads pick a favorite Air Jordan for any number of reasons—pure aesthetic, favorite Jordan on-court moment associated with the shoe, next-level marketing—but the three that always find their way to the top of the G.O.A.T. Jordan discussion are the Jordan I, III and XI. When it comes to the work of Tinker Hatfield, it’s always been the III.