Source: ROBERT SULLIVAN / Getty
More coveted Michael Jordan goods are on the auction block thanks to the good folks over at Sotheby’s.
The latest offering is MJ’s game-worn away jersey from Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Finals, the same year that is the subject of ESPN’s The Last Dance documentary. The bidding begins September 6, which gives you just a few weeks to scrounge up about $3 million– which is what TMZ Sports is estimating the valuation to be.
“Jordan’s 1998 NBA Finals Game 1 jersey is among the most highly desired pieces of sports memorabilia, and the present example is one of just two Finals jerseys to ever appear at auction, from any of his six championships,” Sotheby’s said in a statement.
Source: Sotheby’s / Sotheby’s
The classic 90s series would see the Bulls cap off their second three-peat with Jordan at the helm. It was thought the Utah Jazz had a fair shot at the trophy as they’d won both regular season games against Chicago and decidedly won Game 1 at home. However, the happiness would be short-lived as the Bulls came out on top in Game 2, and once things returned to the United Center, they made sure the series was locked up with a 42-point win. The 45-point game for Jordan cemented the Bulls’ sixth NBA title in just eight years, and his star status grew.
The story behind the jersey and the rarity of public Jordan Finals memorabilia is what’s sure to drive the bidding high.
“Finals jerseys from Jordan … they just don’t come around,” Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of streetwear and modern collectibles, said. “Red is really the color that people think about when they think about Michael Jordan, and this is the only red Finals jersey to ever appear at auction.”
Suppose you don’t have a few million laying around to bid on the jersey. In that case, you can always take a trip to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture to view the game-worn 1996 NBA Finals Jersey that Jordan donated to the institution.
Source: Sotheby’s / Sotheby’s
See Also
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