10/12/2026 08:37:00
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10/12 08:35 CDT Michael Jordan jersey sets $14 million record for basketball
memorabilia, auction house says
Michael Jordan jersey sets $14 million record for basketball memorabilia,
auction house says
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writer
MIAMI (AP) --- A game-worn, autographed Michael Jordan road jersey from the
1998 NBA Finals has been privately sold for $14 million, an auction house
announced Monday, calling it the highest price ever paid for a piece of
basketball memorabilia.
Pennsylvania-based Hunt Auctions announced the private treaty sale and
identified the buyer as Miami real estate investor Ron Firman. The red jersey
is the one Jordan wore in Game 2 of that series on June 5, 1998; he and the
Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz that night to even the matchup at a game
apiece.
Jordan and the Bulls would go on to win the series in six games, the sixth and
final title of his Hall of Fame career. That 1997-98 season was the subject of
the 10-episode "Last Dance" documentary series that was released in 2020.
"While Michael Jordan's importance within the sports memorabilia marketplace
has long been established it has now escalated to an elite asset class more
typically reserved for iconic works of art," said David Hunt, president of Hunt
Auctions. "We are very pleased to have been able to facilitate this historic
sale which serves as another benchmark for our industry."
The $14 million price would be the second-biggest known cost for a game-worn
jersey, behind the $24.12 million paid in 2024 for the jersey worn by Babe Ruth
of the New York Yankees when he hit the "called shot" home run against the
Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series.
This sale becomes at least the third time a Jordan jersey from that 1998 finals
has fetched at least $10 million. A jersey from Game 1 was sold at auction for
about $10.1 million in 2022 and a jersey from Game 3 was auctioned last month
for about $12.3 million.
"Michael Jordan was an incredibly talented player who is admired around the
world." Firman said in a news release distributed by the auction house. "I'm
very excited about the purchase."
The jersey that Firman purchased was originally bought from the Bulls by a
private collector in 2003, Hunt said, adding that it "has remained within a
succinct chain of custody having only changed hands once from the original
purchaser."
Just about anything related to the 1998 finals and Jordan's final season with
the Bulls has been the subject of massive interest in the collector space. In
2023, a pair of Air Jordan sneakers that he wore in Game 2 against the Jazz was
sold by Sotheby's for $2.2 million, touted at the time as "a new world record
for the most valuable sneakers ever sold."
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