What makes a sneaker truly legendary, as opposed to merely great? It all comes down to lore. The real grails have a tale to tell—and few kicks have a more remarkable backstory than the beloved Air Jordan 12 ‘Flu Game,’ which is set to return this week for the first time in nearly a decade.

Tuesday, June 11, 1997. Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz. The series was evenly split at two wins apiece, with Utah’s Karl Malone and John Stockton putting up monumental performances to keep pace with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.

Jordan woke up that morning feeling incredibly sick—doubled up on the hotel floor with mysterious flu-like symptoms, barely able to move, virtually incapacitated. (Years later, during The Last Dance, Mike would speculate that this was, in fact, food poisoning from a late-night pizza order.) Of course, this being Michael Jordan, he forced himself to suit up and take the floor, playing through the illness and dropping 38 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists in what is widely regarded as one of the most impressive games of his career.

The shoes he was wearing that night were a red-and-black spin on the Air Jordan 12, the distinctive ribbed-leather high-top designed by Tinker Hatfield. In a tribute to Jordan’s unforgettable performance, the colorway came to be known as the ‘Flu Game’—one of the rare black-and-red Js not simply dubbed ‘Bred’—and quickly established itself as the defining version of the silhouette. Its heavy-duty black leather upper, pebbled red side panels, and full-length red outsoles are instantly recognizable, firmly cementing the model in the canon of essential Air Jordans.

The Flu Game 12s have been re-released a handful of times over the years since its first launch in 1997—including in 2003, 2009, and most recently in 2016—with pairs from each run still regularly selling for $500 or more on the resale market. The model has also inspired various Jordan releases in the same spirit: an Air Force 1 Low version of the Flu Game came out in 2008, while the Air Jordan 12 ‘Reverse Flu Game,’ flipped with red suede uppers and a pebbled black toe cap, dropped in 2020. Though the latter is nice in its own right, nothing holds a candle to the original.

The Air Jordan 12 ‘Flu Game’ returns via SNKRS and select retailers on March 1 for $210. The drop promises to be one of the most hyped retro releases of the year, so expect a lot of competition to snag a pair at retail.