The Air Jordan III was designed by Tinker Hatfield. It was the first Air Jordan to feature a visible air unit on the heel, the new Jumpman logo, an elephant print trim, and tumble leather for a luxury look. The Air Jordan III were also famous for the humorous ads depicting Spike Lee as Mars Blackmon¡ªthe character he played in his film She's Gotta Have It. This campaign was known as "Mars and Mike" ad campaign. This was one Nike's most successful advertisement campaigns. These were the first Jordans to feature the "NIKE AIR" logo on the back, but later replaced by the Jumpman logo, with the words "AIR" underneath it, similar to the Air Jordan VI. This was said to be Michael Jordan's favorite shoes, he wore it during the 1988 Dunk Championship (which he won) and many other historical events in his basketball career.

The Air Jordan III's had poor sales when first retroed in 1994. However when they were re-retroed they sold out instantly. A pair of the Air Jordan III model can be sold for over 300 dollars. The long awaited "Fire Red" Air Jordan III was released in March 2007. The original Air Jordan III had the "NIKE AIR" logo on the back. Nike replaced it with the Jumpman logo on recent Air Jordan models such as the "Black cats" or the "Pure $'s."

In 2007, Jordan brand collaborated with director Spike Lee to release a limited pair of Air Jordan III's in a special colorway to resemble the Do The Right Thing movie poster.

2007 also saw the "retro'ed" versions of the Air Jordan III's in two monotone colorways, all black and all white, nicknamed the "Black Cats" and the "Pure $," respectively.

2007 also had the "Flips" which moved the elephant print from the trim to the entire shoe and replacing it with white leather, indeed "Flipping" the original design of white leather with elephant print trim.

The sole and mid-sole in these shoes take part in the inspiration of the Jordan Spiz'ike, inspired by the Mars Blackmon character.