A pair of sneakers worn during Michael Jordan’s “Last Dance” with the Chicago Bulls is expected to sell for between $2 million and $4 million at auction next month, Sotheby’s announced.
The shoes were worn by Jordan during the second half of Game 2 of the 1998 NBA Finals. Jordan scored 37 points that night, leading the Bulls to a 93-88 win over the Utah Jazz. The Bulls won the NBA Finals by a 4-2 margin, giving Jordan his sixth and final championship.
Sotheby’s said the shoes were given to a Utah Jazz ball boy who tended to the visitors' locker room. The ball boy asked Jordan for his shoes after finding Jordan’s lost jacket.
Jordan signed the shoes and thanked the ball boy for his services, Sotheby’s said.
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The shoe is considered a “Bred Air Jordan,” which is short for black and red. Sotheby’s said earlier in Jordan’s career, Bred Air Jordan shoes were banned by the NBA because the colors violated the league’s policy.
Nike would use the league’s policy to sell the shoe as a rebellion against power.
Sotheby’s noted that the shoes up for auction marked the last time Jordan wore the Bred Air Jordan shoes.
Jordan’s 1997-98 season became the focus of a 10-part ESPN and Netflix documentary, “The Last Dance.” The documentary aired during April and May 2020, giving ESPN much-needed new content at a time leagues were shut down due to the pandemic.
The shoes won’t be the first Jordan item to go for millions at auction. A road No. 23 Chicago Bulls jersey worn by Jordan sold for $10 million last September. The jersey, complete with an NBA Finals emblem, was worn by the basketball legend during Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Finals.
