Perez's Air Jordan obsession

Pat Perez found his first pair of Air Jordans in a trash can at his high school. Well-worn cement gray IVs, to be exact, and as it turned out, they fit him perfectly.

Now more than two decades later, Perez has so many pairs of the iconic brand that he is building a special room in his new house to display the collection.

“And it still won’t be big enough,” the 42-year-old says with a laugh.

Perez has been collecting Air Jordans for years, since his prowess playing golf afforded him the money for some splurges. He is particularly into the classic, numbered shoes, the kind of shoes he saw Michael Jordan wear when the Chicago Bulls guard was the dominant player in the NBA.

Jordan is one of Perez’s top-three athletes of all time – along with Tiger Woods, whom he grew up playing against in southern California, and NHL legend Wayne Gretzky. He met Jordan when both were on vacation in the Bahamas several years ago and a bond was formed.

“He was so cool,” Perez recalls. “My wife's from Oklahoma and he kept calling her Oklahoma. It was just unbelievable to be able to sit next to this guy and have some Tequila and just kind of talk to him. He was amazing."

“It's like sitting down with Wayne. It's like sitting down with Tiger. You're sitting down with just amazing athletes -- they're all different in their own way, but they all have that same mentality.”

The relationship developed into a business pact, as well, and Perez now wears Jordan Brand shoes on the golf course. The two text often, and his Airness even sent Perez and his wife Ashley gifts when their daughter was born last year. Oh, and Perez loves getting shipments of Air Jordans for his collection.

Perez’s only regret? One day when the two had hit the links, Jordan was wearing a pair of VI golf shoes – which were “the only pair in the world,” Perez says.

After the round, Perez says, “I can't, believe you made those into golf shoes.” To which Jordan replies, “Well, take them if they fit.”

Of course, Jordan’s size 13 shoes would have swallowed Perez’s 11-and-a-half feet. So, he said, thanks anyway.

“And I caught myself,” Perez recalls. “I said, you're an absolute moron. Don't care if they don't fit. Take them. I wound up getting them and I wound up paying for my size of $400 later.”

The room in Perez’s new home will house about a thousand pairs of Air Jordans, but he is quick to point out there are people who have lots more of the iconic brand. Take Mike Bibby, for example. The NBA veteran, who was one of the six original members of Team Jordan.

“There's guys that have 5,000, 6,000 pairs,” Perez says. “There's guys that literally have built libraries for their shoes. It's the most unbelievable thing how it's snowballed over time. ..."

“Mike Bibby … built a three-car garage and he estimates he's got about $4 million worth of shoes. You're talking about from 16 years ago. Just unbelievable to see this garage that makes mine look like I have one pair.”

Although Nike has released 33 different editions, Perez is partial to the Air Jordan I through XVs, which is the first pair made after Jordan retired for the second time.

His personal favorites are the IVs, the Bred XIs and the black and red Flu Game XIIs like the ailing Jordan wore in while scoring 38 points in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz.

“Those are my kind of my iconic ones,” Perez says of the latter two.

He also got a limited edition Laser IV for Christmas that was one of just 68 made. “I’ll never wear those,” Perez says. He estimates the most expensive pairs in his collection probably are worth $5,000. “I’ve put them on but I haven’t worn them,” he notes. “I know it sounds stupid because it’s a pair of shoes, but….”

Truth be told, Perez says, he probably has never worn three-quarters of his collection because he doesn’t want them to get soiled outside.

“Which is stupid, because I envision, you know, when I die, someone getting them and doing, like, landscaping in them,” he says with a smile. “So, I've started actually to wear them a little bit more.”

So what does Perez’s wife think of his shoe collection? A collection that will consume not a closet but a room in their house.

“She thinks I'm kind of crazy, but she loves it, though,” he says with a smile. “She was so excited for me when I got my contract because she knows what it meant to me.”

Ashley has even contributed to the collection. She recently bought her husband a pair of light blue Air Jordan Travis Scott Cactus Jack IVs.

“She didn't know how hard they were even to get, but she bought them because she liked the color,” Perez said, laughing. “I said, babe those are unbelievable. I wasn't going to buy it. I didn't even ask what she paid for it. I know it was heavy, but she knew I wanted that shoe because I'd mentioned it … so I thought that was pretty cool."

“But she's all for it. She thinks it's amazing.”