Michael Jordan collectibles sell for $8.5 million at Sotheby's auction

A set of Michael Jordan jerseys and other collectibles sold for $8.5 million at a New York auction Monday. Bidding began last month, according to Sotheby’s.

Jordan’s Bulls jersey from the 1996-97 season fetched the highest price, selling for $4.7 million. Sotheby's estimated that it would sell for between $4 million and $6 million.

The jersey — which he wore for a total of 20 games, including when he scored 45 points in as many minutes against the Seattle Supersonics in February 1997 — was one of two red jerseys he wore that season, and one of 25 total jerseys, many of which he wore for just one game.

“This jersey symbolizes not just Michael Jordan at the height of his celebrity and prowess, but also a pivotal moment in basketball history,” said Brahm Watcher, Sotheby’s head of modern collectibles, in a statement. “Today’s results highlight the enduring strength of the game-worn market, especially those pieces associated with Michael Jordan’s greatness.”

The American flag Jordan draped over his shoulders during the 1992 Olympics gold medal ceremony to hide his jersey’s Reebok logo saw 45 total bids; it sold for $1.8 million, Sotheby’s said. It’s signed by Jordan, as well as Dream Team members Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Christian Laettner, Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson and John Stockton.

Jordan’s 1988-1989 season home jersey — which the auction house called a “unicorn” given that owners of his '80s jerseys rarely part with them and he wore fewer jerseys in his early years — sold for nearly $1.1 million, shy of its expected $2 million price, Sotheby’s said. It may have been his only home jersey for the season for that reason, and was believed to have been worn in his 53-point game against the Phoenix Suns, one of the 31 games in which he scored more than 50 points during his career.

A signed 1998 playoff jersey from his “The Last Dance” season that was confirmed to have been used when he played against the New Jersey Nets in the first round of the Eastern Conference series, sold for $840,000.

Jordan’s practice jersey and signed sneakers from his days at the University of North Carolina, which sold for $132,000, came with letters of provenance from Charles E. Ragan, who was the school's assistant equipment manager from 1982 to 1985, according to Sotheby’s.

The sale comes after six Air Jordan shoes — one apiece from the last games of the 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998 championship series — sold for $8 million at a Sotheby's auction this year.

The highest auction price for any single piece of Jordan memorabilia was $10.1 million for his jersey from the first game of the 1998 NBA Finals, according to Sotheby’s, which handled the sale in 2022. The second pair of shoes he wore in the series was sold through Sotheby’s last April for $2.2 million, a record for a pair of sneakers, and an unused ticket to Jordan’s 1984 debut with the Bulls was sold through Heritage Auctions in 2022 for $468,000 — over 55,000 times the face value.

Contributing: AP