Michael Jordan sold his 1998 NBA Finals sneakers for a record amount
Jordan’s Last Dance with the Chicago Bulls: A Record-Breaking Game Played by Michael Jordan and Immaculately Worn Shoes
Sotheby’s pre-sale estimate predicted $2 million as the low end, and Tuesday’s final $2.2 million sale came in well below the predicted high of $4 million. The shoes are “the only complete pair of sneakers worn by Michael in an NBA Finals game” ever to be authenticated by the NBA’s official authenticator, according to the auction house.
“What differentiates these record-breaking sneakers is their condition. They are immaculate, as if Jordan laced them up and wore them yesterday,” Wachter said.
Jordan’s farewell run with the Chicago Bulls is often referred to as “The Last Dance,” after the title of an ESPN and Netflix documentary that chronicled the season. The six-game series against the Utah Jazz became the most watched in NBA history due to Jordan announcing his second retirement weeks before the finals. (Jordan would later return from 2001 to 2003 to play with the Washington Wizards, but did not win another championship).
The ball boy at the visitor’s locker room was gifted a set of worn shoes by Jordan after the second game of the series, as he was known to do.
One of Kobe Bryant’s LA Lakers shooting shirts sold for more than $400,000, and a soccer jersey worn by Pel on his debut for the New York Cosmos sold for over $177,000.
