Top 10 Cool Grey Air Jordan Sneakers

When it comes to sneakers, Grey and New Balance are the perfect pairing of color and brand. From the dad shoe aesthetic to their choice of signature athletes like Shohei Ohtani, Cooper Flagg, and Kawhi Leonard, the brand leans into their relaxed vibe to much success. Grey is such an integral part of their “aura” that they have successfully branded the month of May (aka Grey Days) as an official celebration of said vibe.

And yet, no matter how hard New Balance tries to own grey and everything about the color, when you add cool to the mix, it enters Jumpman territory. Since the introduction of the Air Jordan 11 Cool Grey in 2001, the colorway has become a staple of Jordan retro playbook as seemingly every numbered Air Jordan has a Cool Grey or Grey-adjacent pair. A big part of the Cool Grey’s appeal is its versatility. No matter how hard someone might try to get a fit off with a True Blue 3 or an Aqua 8, the Cool Grey equivalent is going to make things just a little bit easier with its neutral tones.

As the number of Cool Grey Air Jordans continues to grow and even include non-signature Jordan models, we’ve got a ranking of the Top 10 Cool Grey Air Jordans so far.

10. Air Jordan 6 Cool Grey (2023)

Not to be confused with the Air Jordan 6 Flight Nostalgia or the Air Jordan 7 Flint that featured similar vibes, the Air Jordan 6 Cool Grey is a welcome addition to the Cool Grey family. It was an interesting decision to not go full grey upper and instead follow the color blocking that was made famous by the Air Jordan 6 Carmine, but when paired with the use of a different shade of grey for the tongue, it makes you wonder if this is only the first attempt at a Cool Grey sneaker for the Air Jordan 6. It wouldn’t be shocking to see a 2.0 version in a few years that ditches the Carmine color blocking and opts for a monochromatic grey upper with dabs of patent leather to give it some shine. Not bad for a first draft, Air Jordan 6 Cool Grey, but we know you got something more in the tank.

9. Air Jordan 12 Cool Grey (2012)

Also given the nickname Bobcats Air Jordan 12 by the sneaker community, the association with one of the NBA’s most miserable franchises was in stark contrast to its owner being the GOAT on the court and in the sneaker world. Released at a time when everything Jordan Brand was selling out in mere minutes, this one was no exception, but over the years any love for them has dulled because of the unofficial connection to the Bobcats Big 3 era of Bismack Biyombo, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and “Razor” Ramon Sessions. Now that the Bobcats are but a distant memory and Michael Jordan is no longer a majority owner of the now-Charlotte Hornets, the time for a future retro with a push to simply call them Cool Grey could work.

8. Air Jordan 8 Cool Grey (2017)

It’s tough to make the Air Jordan 8 “cool” in the same way that the Air Jordan 11 Cool Grey is cool or the Air Jordan 9 Cool Grey is cool, so Jordan Brand deserves praise for managing to extract a measure of cool on the 8s. They resisted the easy way out and opted not to use patent leather on the upper or the cross-straps that take up so much real estate. Despite its most famous backer not named Michael Jordan being cool (and grey) himself, no one is going to mistake these 8s as a Hare 2.0 or anything Bugs Bunny-related. It is simply a no frills, no gimmicks kind of Air Jordan 8 and that in itself is pretty cool.

7. Women’s Air Jordan 2 Cool Grey (2023)

The Air Jordan 2 is a tough sneaker to color when it goes beyond recreating the Chicago-style blocking or a monochromatic finish. The women’s exclusive Air Jordan 2 that was released in 2023 is a clean example of doing it the right way with the use of Cool Grey and Ice Blue. With the Cool Grey suede dominating the upper, the Ice Blue lands on the piping, laces, and part of the TPU heel piece on the back. Not counting the laces, the Ice Blue doesn’t really occupy that much space on the sneaker, and the result is a refined take on the Air Jordan 2. You might think it is an entirely Cool Grey sneaker from afar because of the way the Ice Blue blends in with the Cool Grey.

6. Air Jordan 10 Cool Grey (2014, 2018)

In a very rare instance of sneakerheads not being able to come up with a clever nickname for a Jordan retro, there are not one, but two different Air Jordan 10s that have been dubbed Cool Grey. The first pair was released in 2014 with a color blocking that is very similar to the famous City Series pack that was worn by a number of Nike athletes years before the words “Jordan Brand” were outside of Nike HQ. The follow-up Cool Grey would launch in 2018 and it would take a different approach to the City Series. Unlike the 2014, the newer Cool Grey in 2018 featured a monochromatic grey upper that is only broken up by the tooling that features the colors of the teams that Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls defeated in the Finals. If Eastern Conference teams are feeling left out, know that the colors are broad enough that virtually every team can find at least two that represent them. Because it’s important for the teams that Jordan antagonized during his run in the East, like the New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, and many more, realize that all of them fell at the hands of the GOAT at some point in their franchise’s history.

5. Air Jordan 4 Cool Grey (2004, Retro in 2019)

Honorable Mention to the Paris Air Jordan 4

Prior to the release of the Air Jordan 4 in Cool Grey, the Air Jordan 4 had a fairly pedestrian lineup. It did not come in a variety of Metallic variants like the Air Jordan 1 (although a Metallic Green Air Jordan 4 did drop two months prior to the Cool Greys), it did not have the Italian pedigree of the Air Jordan 2, and it lacked the eye-popping elephant print of the Air Jordan 3. It’s almost as if the 4s were a gap year because the Air Jordan 5 got the Grapes, the Air Jordan 6 had a Maroon look, and the Air Jordan 7 debuted the Bordeaux scheme. Not that the 4s were not cool as they were on MJ’s feet for his most iconic moment, but they lacked the pop of color that was second nature for other Js. That changed in 2004 with the release of the Cool Grey Air Jordan 4. While it did not have the patent leather of the Cool Grey 9s and 11s, it contained that pop we were looking for in the yellow air bubble. It was a subtle sign of what’s to come for the Air Jordan 4 just a few years down the road with the Thunder and Lightning editions.

4. Air Jordan 3 Cool Grey (2006, Retro in 2021)

Released during Jordan Brand’s “lifestyle” phase in the mid-2000s when we got to see ambitious releases like the Air Jordan 5 Olive or the Air Jordan 4 Mist Blue, the Cool Grey 3s actually feel tame in comparison. Where it separated itself from other Air Jordan 3s at the time was the use of nubuck on the upper. People were used to seeing nubuck on the Air Jordan 4 and the Air Jordan 5, but not the 3s. That dissonance probably led the Cool Grey 3s to become more of an underground fave in comparison to other sneakers that blew up during that time like the “Thunder” and “Lightning” 4s. A retro in 2021 would introduce a new generation of sneakerheads to the Cool Grey 3s and the reception was warmer as people learned about them through blogs and social media, not to mention nubuck on 3s was no longer a novel concept by this time.

3. Air Jordan 9 Cool Grey (2002, Retro in 2012, 2025)

Wait, is the Air Jordan 9 Cool Grey cosplaying as the Air Jordan 11 Cool Grey? Originally released a year apart during Michael Jordan’s Washington Wizards run, the Cool Grey 9s serve an important part in the long history of the Air Jordan line. Because he retired from the game of basketball prior to the release of the Air Jordan 9 and returned with the Air Jordan 10 already available and out in full force, there was a gap in MJ’s own sneaker timeline. The Cool Grey 9s rectified the situation and also gave us a new colorway that wouldn’t have been possible in the 90s. Was there a .00023% chance that this was a reason Jordan wanted to return to play? Probably not, but it’s fun to think about.

2. KAWS x Air Jordan 4 Cool Grey (2017)

To anybody who owns a pair of the Cool Grey colorway of the KAWS x Air Jordan 4, they own a piece of sneaker history (the black pair ain’t too shabby either). As a matter of fact (?), they own the biggest sneaker release of all time. Don’t take our word for it, KAWS, aka Brian Donelly, and his Senior Director of Special Projects, Gemo Wong, said it out loud. Now whether that’s confidence in their product or the stance that any creative needs to have in order to keep the flow going is irrelevant. What is true is that the project is among the very best Jordan collabs ever made and the Cool Grey pair is an absolute unicorn. They are instantly wearable with a genuine premium touch in an age when any joker can declare a sneaker with tumbled leather “premium.” And they even have glow-in-the-dark outsoles because there’s always going to be a situation where you’ve been out in the sun and then step into a pitch black room where you need your sneakers to see.

1. Air Jordan 11 Cool Grey (2001, Retros in 2010, 2021)

It’s Thanos. It’s undeniable. There might not be a Cool Grey-colored Infinity Stone, but if there was, there’s no way it would end up being a paperweight on the desk of some pencil-necked geek in the TVA (source). Heated debates will ensue over what the best Red/Bred or Blue or Pink or Orange Air Jordans of all-time are, but anybody who says that the Cool Grey 11s are not the best grey Air Jordans ever made is either lying to themselves or is simply contrarian for the sake of being contrarian. And really, who has time for that?

What we really need to focus our time and energy on is trying to figure out a way to convince Jordan Brand to release the one-time sample, current-time player exclusive version of the Cool Grey 11s made for Jayson Tatum. Featuring a ballistic mesh upper, this variant is rarefied air, even if it’s not Rare Air. Unfortunately, with the most recent retro of the Cool Grey 11s taking place back in 2021 and the time gap between all three releases being separated by 9 to 11 years, the earliest chance we’ll sniff mesh with this colorway is 2030. And that’s why we need the Time Stone to fast-forward to 2030. As long as Wong is listening to “Single Ladies” by Beyoncé, we should be able to sneak it out (source).

Juan Martinez

From video game journalism to veteran of the sneaker blog era to podcasting about well, everything, Juan is smiling through it all and can't believe this is his life. After recently getting into Formula 1, he now has hot takes about who the greatest driver of all time is. Email: juan@soleretriever.com