Michael Jordan’s game-worn 1998 Air Jordans sell at auction for record $2.24 million
The sneakers were worn for the duration of the 1998 NBA Finals versus the Jazz.
One particular anonymous bidder has taken staying a sneakerhead to a record level.
A pair of Michael Jordan’s match-worn shoes from Match 2 of the 1998 NBA Finals had been bought for $2.238 million on Tuesday, the priciest pair of sneakers ever acquired.
The sneakers were being offered as component of a large amount of sports activities memorabilia auctioned off Tuesday by Sotheby’s. The Jordan XIIIs have been the centerpiece of a two-element auction that also bundled the taking pictures shirt Kobe Bryant wore in advance of his 81-level video game, Tom Brady’s total uniform from a game in the 2004 Patriots championship season and the jersey Pele wore in his 1975 debut with the New York Cosmos.
Michael Jordan’s 1998 NBA Finals Video game 2 Air Jordan XIIIs are on show, April 5, 2023, element of a selection of sports artifacts to go up for auction at Sotheby’s in New York City.
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The black and purple Jordan XIIIs were autographed in silver marker and supplied to a ball boy right after Jordan scored 37 points in a 93-88 earn more than the Utah Jazz. The Bulls experienced missing Recreation 1, but a few straight wins setting up in Sport 2 pushed Chicago to within just a person game of their 3rd straight title — and Jordan’s sixth general.
Nine times later on, Jordan would enjoy his closing recreation with the Bulls. The pair of Jordan XIII “Breds” up for auction would be the final he would ever don in a video game, in accordance to Sotheby’s.
The ball boy had discovered Jordan’s misplaced jacket previously the previous working day and asked for his sneakers as thanks — an ask Jordan fulfilled soon after Recreation 2, Sotheby’s claimed. The footwear continue being in “immaculate affliction” and are the only authenticated total pair of sneakers worn by Jordan in an NBA Finals video game, in accordance to Sotheby’s.
Sotheby’s approximated the Jordan XIIIs would offer for $2 million to $4 million.
Michael Jordans 1998 NBA Finals Air Jordan XIIIs sneakers are shown in the course of in New York, April 6, 2023, at Sothebys for the impending auction of sports artifacts.
Timothy A. Clary/AFP by way of Getty Illustrations or photos
The Air Jordans conquer out the previous record of $1.8 million held by a pair of Kanye West’s Nike Air Yeezy 1s. The rapper wore the sneakers, which were auctioned off by Sotheby’s in April 2021, for the duration of the 50th yearly Grammy Awards in 2008.
A pair of Jordan’s Nike Air Ships worn through his rookie time in 1984 were auctioned off for $1.47 million in October 2021. They ended up the 2nd-most high-priced footwear of all-time and the most high priced sport-worn sneakers right until the sale of the Jordan XIIIs.
