A game-worn Michael Jordan jersey is expected to break the record for most expensive basketball jersey to ever be auctioned.
The simple white with red lettering jersey is expected to go in the range of $10-15 million when its auction starts Sept. 15. and ends Sept. 29, according to CNN. But the owner believes it could go for much more.
He might be a little too optimistic.
“I think this will be the first jersey to hit $100 million,” actor and sports investor Rob Gough said, the New York Post reports.
Believing your auction item will go for 10 times its auction estimate is a little over the top, but such a rare item’s value can only be known by the owner. In fact, this jersey is uniquely different from the rest, and, consequently, the right buyer might exceed its predicted price.
A uniquely different sports auction item
Joopiter, the site conducting the online auction, says game-worn Jordan jerseys are already extremely rare and sought after, but “this jersey is even more exceptional.”
“It is the only white 1998 NBA Finals jersey to surface, placing it among the rarest Michael Jordan game-worn jerseys in existence.”
“Its significance is further elevated by the iconic 1998 NBA Finals Championship patch, widely regarded by collectors as the most desirable and historically important Finals patch ever affixed to an NBA jersey,” the site continued. “Together, these extraordinary attributes distinguish the jersey as a singular artifact from one of the most celebrated seasons in the history of sport.”
The owner said among all the art he has in his home, guests always skipped over it to get to his Jordan jersey, per the Post.
“That’s when I realized that this stuff is the new modern art,” Gough said.
The jersey was worn during Jordan’s defeat of the Utah Jazz 96-54 at the United Center in Chicago is “more than sports memorabilia. It is one of the most important cultural artifacts of the modern era,” he claimed on an Instagram post.
“I have been honored to be its steward. Now it is time for someone else to own this piece of history.”
Other Jordan memorabilia sold in the past
The six-time NBA champion, who was and still is a global icon, is no stranger items associated with him being sold at auctions.
In 2022 his Game 1 finals jersey from 1998 sold as the most expensive basketball jersey ever, going for $10.1 million.
Another notable sale was the “Dynasty Collection.” Six pairs of shoes worn by the Bulls guard, each one worn during his finals clinching game. The collection sold for roughly $8 million.
Among other items, his 1992 USA “Dream Team” Olympic jersey sold in 2023 for roughly $3 million and the “flu shoes” from his iconic performance against the Jazz, where he scored 38 points in Game 5 of the NBA Finals to lead his team to a two-point win with food poisoning, sold for $1.38 million.
When Jordan’s ‘98 Game 1 jersey was sold in 2022, it was the most expensive sports clothing at the time before it was overtaken by Babe Ruth’s called shot in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series, which went for $24.12 million in 2024.
Social media reaction
When news like this reaches your feed there is usually an initial reaction followed by a second reaction. The first is usually a thought that whatever is being sold is pretty cool, followed by a gasp that there are people in this world able and willing to spend the absurd amount of money to call it their own. That’s what one Twitter user showed in a post.
Another reacted to the Gough’s claim that he thinks it could go for $100 million.
Another, who claims LeBron James is the GOAT (greatest of all time), said even he will never sell a jersey for this much. Jordan’s global status could make that true, but time and nostalgia can make all sorts of things skyrocket in price.