Quick Facts
- The Nike Air Bakin OG features a black toe that stretches around the bottom of the side panel onto the heel with a wavy red panel added above it, like radiating waves of heat rising from your feet
- Clear Swoosh branding is added on the ankle and the midfoot midsole, with yellow laces added for more fiery pop
- The Nike Air Bakin OG will be released Fall 2026
Nike has been focused on new performance tech initiatives like the Mind collection and Vomero Premium. Still, if Beaverton wanted, they could suspend all new design work and live strictly out of its archive for years and still drop nothing but heat. This year, Nike is taking us back to the late ‘90s with another performance basketball shoe turned lifestyle classic with time, retroing the Air Bakin OG in fiery red, yellow, and black.
First released in 1997, the Air Bakin was a staple for NBA stars like Tim Hardaway and Kevin Garnett. And even after controversy caused Nike to recall the OG colorway after consulting the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) about a supposedly accidental font choice that translated to Arabic in poor taste, the shoe has remained a retro classic for decades, and will now be released for only the third time since its OG drop.
The Nike Air Bakin OG features a black toe that stretches around the bottom of the side panel onto the heel with a wavy red panel added above it, like radiating waves of heat rising from your feet. Clear Swoosh branding is added on the ankle and the midfoot midsole, with yellow laces added for more fiery pop. And no, Nike is not returning to the OG font for the heel tab’s AIR logo, instead using a traditional Nike Air logo found on many other sneakers.
The Nike Air Bakin OG will be released Fall 2026 through Nike and select retailers in-store and online. Available in men’s sizing, the retail price is set at $170. For all the latest on Nike’s Air Bakin retro push, download the Sole Retriever mobile app.
Images via eBay User danddiscou_72
Zach Harris is a writer based in Philadelphia. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Vice, Complex, High Times, and more. He is obsessed with skateboarding and bowling. He is still looking for his first 300. For tips, reviews, and anything in size 10.5 - zach.h@soleretriever.com
