What changed
A Michael Jordan jersey worn in Game Three of the 1998 NBA Finals has sold for $12.3m (£9.3m), setting a record for Jordan memorabilia. Entrepreneur Ryan Gough sold it through Joopiter, Pharrell Williams’ digital auction house; Jordan wore it during his final Chicago Bulls season, when the team won the Finals 4-2.
Why it matters
This is not just a valuable shirt. It is a tightly preserved piece of basketball history: Jordan’s sixth and final championship, from a season in which he won his sixth Finals MVP. The price also beats the previous Jordan memorabilia record, $10.1m for another jersey from the same 1998 Finals.
The result landed within Joopiter’s $10m-$15m estimate, suggesting that the jersey’s appeal was anchored in the precise moment it represents. Its value comes from the combination of player, game, season and outcome, not merely from Jordan’s name on the back.
It still falls short of the wider game-worn sports memorabilia record: Babe Ruth’s 1932 World Series jersey sold for $24.1m in 2024. The buyer and final transaction terms have not been identified.
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