The Air Jordan 9 occupies a unique space in the Jordan pantheon. Originally released during the 1993-94 season, the shoe was the first Jordan model to be issued during a Michael Jordan retirement, and, because MJ's return to the NBA didn't occur until more than halfway through the 1994-95 season, the Jordan 9 was never worn on an NBA court by MJ. Rather, the banner for the Jordan 9 was trusted to a select group of player edition models for Kendall Gill, Mitch Richmond, BJ Armstrong, and most notably, Penny Hardaway.