The Nike Air Zoom Flight 98 "The Glove" Returns July 2026

Nike is bringing back the Air Zoom Flight 98 "The Glove" in a form that stays close to the original, preserving the sharp black-and-white colorway and the distinctive zippered neoprene shroud that set the shoe apart when it first released.

The upper is built around a wrapped, covered lacing system housed beneath that neoprene shroud, giving the shoe its enclosed, glove-like feel. Underneath the surface, the hidden Monkey Paw support system remains intact, working alongside the sculpted sole and long, aggressive silhouette that made the design hard to confuse with anything else on the market. University Red appears as an accent, adding a flash of color without disrupting the dominant black-and-white blocking. The model came out of a period when Nike Basketball was willing to let performance footwear look unconventional, and this retro does not try to soften that edge for a modern audience. Gary Payton wore the shoe during one of the defining stretches of his career, and his "The Glove" nickname, earned through elite on-ball defense, gave the model a place in Nike Basketball history that extended well beyond the design itself.