The Air Jordan VI was released in late 1990 and designed by Tinker Hatfield. Jordan won his first NBA Championship wearing these sneakers. These sneakers were originally designed for David Berbick, but were later taken off the market due to exclusivity issues.

In 2000 an Olympic colorway was released with a mixture of white, royal blue, and a hint of red (lacelocks) to symbolize the U.S.A. colors. This shoe featured a #9 on the shoe(Jordan's olympic number).

In 2008 a second Olympic colorway was released that consisted of an all-white patent leather upper, black tongue, and all of the Olympic rings' colors on the midsole. On the toebox of the shoe is an embroidered Chinese flower as a symbol of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

To celebrate the defining moment of Jordan’s first championship Nike released a commemorative Black/Gold Air Jordan 6 packaged with a White/Black/Gold Jordan 11 sold as the “Defining Moments Package”. It was released on January 28, 2006.

The entire tongue, and part of the lace locks of the Jordan VI were inspiration for the Air Jordan Spiz'ike. The lace locks and back tab of the Jordan VI were also inspiration for the Air Jordan "Six Rings".