A jersey worn by basketball legend Michael Jordan has been sold for $10.1 million — becoming the most expensive piece of game-worn sports memorabilia ever bought at an auction.
The item was sold on Thursday at Sotheby's "INVICTUS" a two-part auction of sports artifacts. The bright red shirt with the words, "Bulls 23," amassed 20 bids, Sotheby's told NPR.
Jordan wore the jersey during Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Finals. His team, the Chicago Bulls, would go on to win the championship series against the Utah Jazz.
The season is widely known as Jordan's "Last Dance" because it concluded a historic run of wins for the Bulls in the 1990s, which included six NBA championships. Jordan went on to temporary retire in 1999. In 2001, he returned to play for another two years. Jordan officially retired in 2003 at age 40.
A 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle baseball card still holds the title for generally the most valuable piece of sports memorabilia sold at an auction, with a price tag of $12.6 million.
The jersey is also considered the most valuable Jordan-relate item ever sold at an auction. In 2021, a pair of sneakers he wore during his first season with the Bulls was sold for nearly $1.5 million.
Brahm Wachter, Sotheby's head of streetwear and modern collectables, told NPR that Jordan's jersey stirred excitement from both sports fans and avid collectors.
He said the "record-breaking result, with an astounding 20 bids, solidifies Michael Jordan as the undisputed GOAT, proving his name and incomparable legacy is just as relevant as it was nearly 25 years ago."
A game-worn Michael Jordan jersey sold for $10.1 million at Sotheby's. The jersey was worn in the first game of the 1998 NBA Finals. The sale breaks the record for game-worn memorabilia and doubles Sotheby's initial valuation of the item.
Michael Jordan's 1998 NBA Finals Game 1 jersey is the most expensive sports jersey ever sold. It sold for $10.1 million(around 843 350 000 in Indian rupees).
One of the consensus GOATs in American sports history just broke another record. Michael Jordan's 1998 NBA Finals Game 1 jersey sold for $10.1 million on Thursday, ESPN reported. The sale, which was administered by auction house Sotheby's, is a record for a game-worn jersey.
Basketball great Michael Jordan gave $10 million to establish an endowment to ensure the charity can grant future wishes for children with critical illnesses, something it has been doing to provide critically ill youths with hope since it was founded in 1980.
Jordan's jersey from Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz is the most expensive game-worn jersey. When it was auctioned off in September 2022 at Sotheby's, the jersey was expected to fetch around $5 million.
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