Joe McConnell
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with the final sale price and other details after the auction.
CNN
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In 1998, Michael Jordan wore a pair of his iconic black and red Air Jordan 13s to give the Bulls a victory in Game 2 of his final NBA championship. They are now the most expensive sneakers ever sold at auction.
The winning sneakers from the match sold for $2.2 million at Sotheby’s in New York on Tuesday, shattering the $1.47 million auction record for a sneaker set in 2021 by a pair of Nike Air Ships worn by Jordan earlier in his career.
The sale comes during “Jordan Year,” a nod to the NBA player’s iconic No. 23 jersey. In January, Air Jordan partnered with Sotheby’s to auction off 13 pairs of retro sneakers designed in memory of The Notorious B.I.G. All lots surpassed their high estimates of $5,000 multiples, with the highest selling for more than $32,000.
Last year, Jordan’s game-worn jersey from Game 1 of the 1998 Finals became the most expensive game-worn piece of sports memorabilia ever sold at auction, fetching $10.1 million at a Sotheby’s sale.
Jordan’s departure from the Chicago Bulls is often referred to as “The Last Dance,” after the title of an ESPN and Netflix documentary that chronicled the season. Jordan announced his (second) retirement weeks before the Finals, leading the six-game series against the Utah Jazz to become the most-watched in NBA history, according to Nielsen TV ratings. (Jordan would return from 2001-03 to play for the Washington Wizards, but did not win another championship.)
“Michael Jordan’s game-worn memorabilia has proven time and again to be the most exclusive and coveted items on the market,” Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of streetwear and modern collectibles, said in a press release ahead of the sale. “However, items from his ‘Last Dance’ season are of a greater scale and scope, as seen with our record-breaking sale of his 2022 Game 1 jersey.”
The pair of sneakers Sold on Tuesday They were worn in Game 2, in Salt Lake City, which the Bulls won 93-88 after losing Game 1, with Jordan scoring 37 points. They are the last pair of black and red Air Jordan 13s Jordan ever wore on the court for an NBA game, a Sotheby’s press release noted.
After Game 2, Jordan signed and gifted the used pair of shoes to the ball boy in the visitors’ locker room, as he was wont to do, according to Sotheby’s.
The Air Jordan 13 sneaker was the star of a sports memorabilia sale called “Victoriam,” which featured items worn by athletes including Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant and Roger Federer. The two-part auction also included other Jordan items: a game-worn 1998 Bulls jersey and a pair of 1985 Air Jordan 1s sold for $508,000 and $127,000, respectively.
Other notable lots included one of Kobe Bryant’s LA Lakers shooting jerseys, which sold for over $406,000, and a soccer jersey worn by the late Pelé in his debut with the New York Cosmos in 1975, which sold for over $177,000.
Top image: Michael Jordan’s signature Air Jordan 13 sneakers.
