Michael Jordan game-worn Air Jordans from rookie Chicago Bulls season sell for record amount at auction
An autographed pair of Michael Jordan’s famous Air Jordan trainers sold for a record £463,000 in an online auction.
The Nike Air Jordan 1s, worn by the basketball legend during his rookie season with the Chicago Bulls in 1984/85, made far more than the £82,400-£124,000 estimate ahead of the Sotheby’s sale online sale.
The previous record for a pair of trainers was £360,000 for a pair of Nike 1972 Moon Shoes.
Jordan wore a US size 13 on his left foot and 13.5 on his right throughout his career.
Commenting on the sale, Sotheby’s Brahm Wachter said: “We are extremely excited about today’s record-breaking result.
"Building off the momentum from our debut sneaker sale last year, which previously set the record for a pair of sneakers with the Nike Moon Shoe, we wanted to set the bar even higher for our second sneaker sale.
"We saw tremendous bidding up until the moment the sale closed, with the value more than doubling in the final hour alone.
"That coupled with strong international bidding from six countries on four continents shows not only the incredible appeal of Michael Jordan as one of the most recognisable and legendary athletes of all time, but also that sneaker collecting is truly a global and growing market.”
The sale coincides with the Netflix documentary The Last Dance about Michael Jordan and the all-dominating Chicago Bulls team of the 1990s.
Jordan revealed on the documentary he has his mother to thank for his partnership with Nike as he was always keen on adidas.
He said: "My mother said, 'You're going to go listen. You may not like it, but you're going to go listen.'
"She made me get on that plane and go listen.”
Nike offered him a five-year deal worth £400,000 and his own shoe line.
That decision turned out to be a lucrative one as it has netted him more than £1billion and the Air Jordan trainers have earned a cult following.