Six of Michael Jordan’s signed and game-worn championship sneakers are headed to auction next month in New York with an estimated value of up to US$10 million.
The set “represents the most valuable and significant collection of Air Jordan sneakers ever brought to market,” according to Sotheby’s, which is handling the sale.
The single lot—collectively called the Dynasty Collection—will be the focal point of an upcoming live auction titled The One. This will be the second edition of the event, a cross-category sale that had its debut last January and features “exceptional objects that exemplify human ingenuity, achievement, and excellence,” according to the auction house.
Jordan, 60, remains in the headlines in part due to the booming industry surrounding his collectibles. Last April, a pair of Nike Air Jordan XIII sneakers signed and worn by Jordan during the 1998 NBA finals were sold by Sotheby’s for US$2.2 million—setting a world record for the most expensive sneakers sold at auction.
“The Dynasty Collection is the sole-defining ‘holy grail’ of sneaker collecting, checking all of the boxes that a collector could possibly want,” says Brahm Wachter, head of modern collectibles at Sotheby’s “Though the upcoming sale will feature 15 historically significant lots spanning eras from the 13th century to the present, much of the attention will land on the set of Jordan footwear, which carries quite a backstory.
Keen followers of Jordan will know that there was a reason he ended up missing a sneaker after each of his six championship-clinching games. In 1991, before Jordan’s first NBA Finals with the Chicago Bulls, Tim Hallam—a public relations executive who had worked for the team since 1978—asked for the game-worn sneaker from the pivotal game. Jordan handed over the shoe after signing it, and in what was likely an adherence to superstition, continued the tradition after the following five finals. Each time, the superstar removed one shoe immediately after leaving the court, signed it, and handed it off to Hallam.
The sneakers were later obtained from Hallam by the current owner, a private American collector who placed the sneakers on public display for the first time at the 2022 National Sports Collectors Convention in Atlantic City, N.J. Now, after an extensive global tour with stops in New York, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, and Singapore, the collection will head to auction.
Included with the lot—which consists of an Air Jordan VI (1991), Air Jordan VII (1992), Air Jordan VIII (1993), Air Jordan XI (1996), Air Jordan XII (1997), and Air Jordan XIV (1998)—is a set of signed photographs by Bulls team photographer Bill Smith. The images depict Jordan following the 1992, 1993, 1996, and 1998 NBA Finals, celebrating while wearing just one sneaker. (The other had already been given to Hallam.)
Casual observers may be shocked to see the vintage sneakers positioned alongside fine objects of antiquity. Other items in the auction include the Hope Cup, a mid-19th century vase made for the 1855 Paris Exposition; a large gilt-bronze figure of Shakyamuni Buddha from Tibet, circa 14th century; and the Grifo di Tancredi, a gilt and painted Florentine cassetta, or coffer, dating back to the late 13th century. Those three lots each carry a presale estimate in the neighborhood of US$2 million.
One other piece of Jordan memorabilia is included in the auction: the signed, official scorekeeper’s sheet from the highest-scoring game of his career. The 69-point effort against the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 28, 1990 is expected to fetch between US$60,000 and US$80,000.
The live auction will take place at Sotheby’s New York City headquarters beginning at 10 a.m. on Feb. 2. The items up for sale will be displayed alongside Sotheby’s Masters Week exhibitions beginning Jan. 26.