Michael Jordan’s ‘Last Dance’ jersey sells for record US$12.26m

Michael Jordan’s jersey from Game 3 of the 1998 NBA Finals sold for US$12.26 million (S$15.7 million) on Sept 29, breaking the record for a piece of Jordan memorabilia.

This jersey, from Jordan’s sixth and final NBA Championship season in his “Last Dance” final campaign with the Chicago Bulls, put up for sale by entrepreneur Ryan Gough and sold at Joopiter, Pharrell Williams’ digital auction house.

It broke the previous record for a piece of Jordan memorabilia, which was previously US$10.09 million for the game-worn jersey from Game 1 of the same Finals.

“Few objects in the history of sport embody greatness as completely as Michael Jordan’s Game 3 jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals,” Joopiter said in the online auction posting for the jersey, with an estimated price range of $10-15 million.

“Worn during The Last Dance... it marks the culmination of an era that transformed basketball into a global cultural phenomenon. Today, it stands among the most important game-worn sports artifacts ever to come to market.”

The sale price of this jersey, while a Jordan record, is barely halfway to the total of the highest price paid for a game-worn piece of sports memorabilia in auction history.

That honour belongs to the jersey Babe Ruth wore in the 1932 World Series where he called his shot, which sold for US$24.12 million in 2024. REUTERS