NEW YORK: A jersey worn by means of basketball legend Michael Jordan right through Recreation 1 of the 1998 NBA Finals, his remaining name victory, offered for a document $10.1 million Thursday, Sotheby’s stated.
The enduring pink Chicago Bulls jersey, with Jordan’s quantity 23 at the again, went for the perfect quantity of any game-worn sports activities memorabilia ever, the public sale area stated, and set a brand new document for a basketball jersey at public sale.
The overall sum used to be two times Sotheby’s prime estimate, and the jersey drew a complete of 20 bids.
The Jordan swag beat a document set in Would possibly for the most costly sports activities memorabilia ever offered, which were Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” jersey.
The former document for a game-worn basketball jersey used to be for one autographed by means of Kobe Bryant, who wore it in 1996-97. That piece of NBA memorabilia went for $3.7 million, in step with Sotheby’s.
The Jordan jersey is most effective the second one worn by means of the celebrity right through his six championships to be offered at public sale.
It’s also the most costly merchandise of Michael Jordan sports activities memorabilia to be offered.
The former document used to be for $2.7 million, notched by means of an autographed relic card from 1997-98.
‘The Closing Dance’
Maximum of Jordan’s NBA Finals jerseys stay in personal palms, in step with Sotheby’s, even though he has donated one to the Smithsonian Nationwide Museum of African American Historical past and Tradition.
Jordan, now 59, spent the majority of his basketball profession with the Bulls, with whom he received all six of his titles, however got here out of retirement in 2001 to play two seasons with the Washington Wizards.
His ultimate season with the Bulls used to be detailed within the hit ESPN/Netflix documentary “The Closing Dance” launched in 2020.
Brahm Wachter, head of streetwear and trendy collectables at Sotheby’s, stated in a observation that the sale “solidifies Michael Jordan because the undisputed GOAT, proving his identify and incomparable legacy is simply as related because it used to be just about 25 years in the past.”
The jersey used to be first publicly displayed in Monterey, California ahead of being shipped to New York, the place enthusiasts may just view it right through the net public sale.
The New York public sale area, owned since 2019 by means of French-Israeli telecom rich person Patrick Drahi, in the past offered a couple of Jordan’s shoes for just about $1.5 million.
The retired basketball celebrity these days owns the Charlotte Hornets, situated in his adolescence house of North Carolina, and reportedly nonetheless earns hundreds of thousands in royalties every yr from gross sales of Nike’s Air Jordan logo of shoes.