One-of-a-kind Michael Jordan jersey fetches huge price at auction

A rare game-worn Michael Jordan uniform from the 1992/93 NBA season has sold for $2.623 million at auction.

The famous No. 23 jersey was sold at Heritage Auctions and it has a unique back-story. It is the same uniform that Jordan was wearing when he appeared on the front cover of Sports Illustrated in October 1993 with the headline, ‘WHY?’

The headline was a reaction to the news that Jordan had announced his retirement at the age of just 30, following his first three-peat triumph with the Chicago Bulls. Of course, Jordan later returned to the league and won another three championships with the Bulls but those early years remain the Holy Grail for collectors

Photo-matching experts at MeiGray and Sports Investors Authentication believe that the uniform sold at auction this week is the only example to be matched to one of the first three-peat seasons. A letter from SIA states: “We believe this jersey was very likely worn every road game from November 6, 1992 to March 24, 1993.”

That season saw Jordan and the Bulls complete their first three-peat, with No. 23 starring in the postseason. His 41-point average across the NBA Finals remains an all-time record.

That $2.623m sale may seem like an enormous sum but it’s a long way short of Jordan’s memorabilia record. In September 2022 the jersey worn by MJ in the 1998 NBA Finals - the ‘Last Dance’ season - was sold for an eye-watering $10.091 million at auction. At the time, that was the record for any item of sports memorabilia.

That record has since been beaten by the mythical Babe Ruth ‘Called shot’ jersey, which dates back to the 1932 World Series triumph for the New York Yankees. In the summer of 2024 the jersey was sold at auction for $24.12 million.

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