timesargus
Hunt Auctions, a Pennsylvania-based auction house, revealed on Monday that a game-worn, autographed Michael Jordan road jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals has been sold privately for $14 million. The sale marks the highest price ever paid for a piece of basketball memorabilia, according to the auction house.
The buyer was identified as Ron Firman, a real estate investor from Miami. The red jersey is the one Jordan wore in Game 2 of the Finals on June 5, 1998, when he and the Chicago Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz to tie the series at one game each.
Jordan and the Bulls went on to win the series in six games, securing the sixth and final championship of his Hall of Fame career. That 1997-98 season was chronicled in the 10-part documentary series 'The Last Dance,' released in 2020.
David Hunt, president of Hunt Auctions, commented on the significance of the sale: '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.' He added, '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 tag is the second-highest known amount for a game-worn jersey, trailing only 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 is at least the third time a Jordan jersey from the 1998 Finals has fetched at least $10 million. A jersey from Game 1 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.
Firman expressed his enthusiasm in a news release distributed by the auction house: 'Michael Jordan was an incredibly talented player who is admired around the world. I'm very excited about the purchase.'
The jersey Firman acquired was originally bought from the Bulls by a private collector in 2003, according to Hunt. He noted that it has remained within a succinct chain of custody, having only changed hands once from the original purchaser.
Items related to the 1998 Finals and Jordan's final season with the Bulls have generated massive interest in the collector market. In 2023, a pair of Air Jordan sneakers that Jordan 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.
Originally reported by timesargus.