When it comes to Air Jordans, Michael Jordan is still calling the shots

At 63 years old, Michael Jordan remains incredibly active, driven, competitive and detail-oriented.

He co-owns NASCAR's 23XI Racing, whose driver Tyler Reddick became the first competitor to win the first three races of a season earlier this year. Reddick is a contender for the team's first championship, and we know how much MJ is obsessed with those. "I'm entrenched in the sport as a whole," he told CBS' Gayle King earlier this year.

So it should come as no surprise that Jordan remains actively involved in the design and creative process of the eponymous Air Jordan brand that helped make him a billionaire off the court, and propelled the sneaker industry to global popularity in the ensuing decades. The Air Jordan 41 design was released on Thursday, with the product first available starting on Friday in China prior to a global release. And Michael Jordan's input is still vital to the Nike executives charged with bringing the shoe to life, from initial briefings to the final sign-off approval.

"He's our competitive advantage to everybody in the industry," Donald Kelsey, Jordan Brand's senior director of basketball and promo footwear, told reporters earlier this month. "If you think about his access to what he sees, it's like the top 1%. Whether that's watches, automobiles, aircrafts. What he sees in the world of innovation and technology, he's already like five, 10 years ahead. He's not playing anymore, but he's involved throughout the entire process."

When Kelsey and Leo Chang, Jordan Brand's creative director of basketball and sport, met with Jordan several times over the last year in creating the AJ41, Jordan was giving them a litmus test on how they were pushing innovation. Whereas most basketball shoes are created for the offensive side of the ball — since almost all the hoops highlights we see are scoring, shooting and passing — the 41 was built to cater to defenders as well.

"When you talk to MJ, he has a plan to defend even the modern day players like he was still playing," Chang said. "That's how competitive he is. He talked a lot about the mentality of 'by the time you see me, it's too late.'"

Jordan, a nine-time NBA All-Defensive First-Team member and one of three players in league history to win MVP and defensive player of the year in the same season, discussed treating defense like offense and facilitating the necessary footwork to achieve that. Certain elements you see in the 41, including a carbon fiber center and a heel zoom airbag, were implemented in part because MJ wanted to emphasize defensive mobility and agility. Additionally, each colorway of the new shoe is modeled after a gemstone, to reflect MJ's mentality and personal symbolism.

"The Air Jordan 41 is a statement about where Jordan Brand is headed," said Sarah Mensah, Jordan Brand's president. "It carries forward a legacy built on greatness, but it was created for the athletes, whose culture and style of play are defining the future of the game. It is more than the next Air Jordan. It is a signal of the next chapter of Jordan performance."

Chang has had the opportunity to visit Jordan's personal garage, which he described as 10 times nicer than any car museum you've ever been to. The attention to detail that went into the several dozen supercars MJ owns helped influence the shoe and its design as well. MJ inspired the static vertical lines you see across the sides of the shoes because he wanted them to look like they're moving even while standing still.

In any NASCAR or Formula 1 car, every granular detail, every ounce of weight distributed throughout the vehicle, is intentional to maximize optimal performance. It's clear that Jordan's 23XI NASCAR ownership has seeped into how he sees sneaker design.

"He's able to see how they are engineering and designing performance to meet the new regulations and performance standards that each car has," Kelsey told me. "So he's looking at that innovation and trying to apply it to how we approach our new technology."

Whether on the court or in the boardroom, Michael Jordan can give off an intimidating presence. He's not someone you want to cross or be on his bad side, because he's become a master of his craft in both basketball and footwear over the past 40-plus years who does not mess around.

"You have to show up dialed in and know what you're talking about, because otherwise he will call you out on it," Chang said. "He's seen it and heard it all. He's had some of the best designers on his stuff, so you can't really pull anything on him. He's still the best in the game in terms of having a conversation about product."

Every sample prototype Chang, Kelsey and the Jordan Brand designs is also produced in MJ's size 13. He tried on different versions of the 41 with and without various elements, finally coming around on the low-top iteration that a lot of today's elite athletes prefer. The Jordan Brand team talks to male and female pro, college and prep athletes across the world to discuss their preferences and what they're looking for to play at their very best. Kelsey and the team then relay that information to Jordan, to compare notes on what they're seeing and what he's seeing.

"Then we iron it out from there," Kelsey said, "but I wouldn't say there's any tension. For him, he's very keen and sharp. His archive is crazy, so it's just taking that information and making sure that as we go through this process, we're pushing it forward with a mix of innovation and expression."

The process for building the Air Jordan 42s has already begun, and Jordan is actively involved in the early stages with rough samples. The design and production team tries to maximize every chance they get to meet with him in person for any kind of insight. Because after 41 years of shoe design, all-time greatness on the court, and decades of ownership experience in both the NBA and NASCAR, his competitive energy and detail-oriented nature still burns bright. And for the signature product bearing his name, Michael Jordan is still very much deeply embedded in the game.