Editor’s note: This story was updated after the auction with the final sale price and other details.
CNN
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Michael Jordan laced up his iconic black and red Air Jordan 13s to power the Bulls in Game 2 of his last NBA championship in 1998, and now they’re up for auction The most expensive sneakers ever produced.
The winning pair of sneakers sold for $2.2 million at Sotheby’s in New York. Tuesday, crushing sneaker auction Record Valued at $1.47 million, it was set in 2021 by a pair of Nike Air Ships worn by Jordan early in his career.
The auction takes place during the “Years of Jordan” – a reference to the NBA star’s iconic jersey number 23. In January, Air Jordan teamed up with Sotheby’s to auction off 13 pairs of retro sneakers designed to commemorate the infamous mogul. The estimate was as high as $5,000, and the top sale price was over $32,000.
Last year, Jordan’s Game 1 jersey, also from the 1998 Finals, became the most expensive piece of old sports memorabilia ever sold at auction. Transaction price: US$10.1 million At Sotheby’s auction.
Jordan’s farewell game with the Chicago Bulls is often called “The Last Dance,” named after the title of the ESPN and Netflix documentaries chronicling the season. Jordan announced his (second) retirement just weeks before the Finals, resulting in the six-game series against the Utah Jazz being the most-watched series in NBA history, according to Nielsen TV ratings. (Jordan later returned to play for the Washington Wizards from 2001 to 2003, but did not win another championship).
Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of streetwear and contemporary collectibles, said in a press release ahead of the auction: “Time and time again, Michael Jordan’s game-worn sports memorabilia has proven to be some of the most elite and coveted on the market. items. “However, the items from his ‘Last Dance’ season are bigger and bigger, as evidenced by our record-breaking sales of his first jersey in 2022.”
these sneakers sold on tuesday In Game 2 in Salt Lake City, the Bulls won 93-88 after losing Game 1, with Jordan scoring 37 points. A press release from Sotheby’s noted that this was the last pair of black and red Air Jordan 13 shoes that Jordan wore in an NBA game.
According to Sotheby’s, Jordan signed the old pair in the visiting team’s locker room after Game 2 and presented them to his ball boy, as he was known to do.
Air Jordan 13 sneakers take center stage in a sports memorabilia auction called “Victoriam,” which includes items worn by athletes such as Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant and Roger Federer. The two-part auction included a game-worn 1998 Bulls jersey and a pair of 1985 Air Jordan 1s, which sold for $508,000 and $127,000 respectively.
Other top lots included a Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers shooting jersey, which sold for more than $406,000, and a football jersey worn by the late Pele during his debut with the New York Cosmos in 1975, which sold for Priced at over $177,000.
Above: Michael Jordan’s signature Air Jordan 13 sneaker.
