The Full Story Behind the OVO Air Jordan 6

On December 4, 2013 — just after 2 a.m. — a cryptic tweet surfaced from the Jordan Brand Twitter account. The message was an announcement that Drake had officially become a member of the exclusive club, known as Team Jordan. Several hours earlier, the excited rapper provoked screams and chants of approval from fans, when he publicized that he had been inducted into the Team Jordan family at a concert in Portland, Oregon.

“Today also happens to be one of the best days of my life,” he proclaimed. ”Growing up, I’m sure we all idolized this guy, he goes by the name of Michael Jordan. So today, I came to Portland and officially became inducted into the Team Jordan family.”

Filtered photos of custom Air Jordan 10’s and Stingray 12’s surfaced on his Instagram account soon after. Sneaker sites across the Internet began to post articles about the historic partnership and the collaborative shoes — that would never be released. Enthusiasts salivated over the images, hoping the sneakers would one day become tangible.

This year, Sneaker Freaker, a popular shoe site decided to capitalize on the demand. On April 1st — April “Fool’s Day” the website released an article claiming that Drake and Team Jordan would finally release a sneaker to the public. They chose the popular Air Jordan 6‘s, rendering a believable black/gold colorway and even added an exclusive quote from Drake, mentioning that 1.5 million pairs would be available on his birthday (October 24). Although, the site sourced the image to a Wikipedia link for April Fool’s Day, some readers didn’t catch on. Additional websites re-blogged the sneaker’s release and Sneaker Freaker received a record amount of likes and comments on its Facebook page. A day later, the site confessed that the shoe was fictitious — one big joke for April Fool’s Day.

Unfortunately, Drake’s partnership with Team Jordan remains unfulfilled. Nearly one year later, fans are still awaiting the first official release.

Read the full story behind Sneaker Freaker’s OVO Air Jordan 6 hoax here.