A collection of Air Jordans from each of Michael Jordan’s six NBA championships is set to be sold at auction by Sotheby’s next month, and could fetch up to $10million.
The set, dubbed ‘The Dynasty Collection,’ consists of Air Jordan VI (1991), Air Jordan VII (1992), Air Jordan VIII (1993), Air Jordan XI (1996), Air Jordan XII (1997) and, finally, Air Jordan XIV (1998).
It has been widely regarded as ‘the most valuable and significant collection of Air Jordan sneakers ever brought to market’, according to Sotheby’s.
In a statement provided to DailyMail.com, Head of Modern Collectables Brahm Wachter labelled the called the collection the ‘Mona Lisa of the sneaker collecting and sports memorabilia communities.’
In a rather fascinating arrangement, which has been publicly reported, after the clinching game of each of the Bulls six NBA titles in the 1990s, Jordan gifted one of his sneakers to Tim Hallam, the Bulls’ Director of Public & Media Relations.
In the 1991 NBA Finals, Jordan squared off against Magic Johnson and the LA Lakers, with the Bulls having never reached the annual championship series. After a Game 1 loss in Chicago, the Bulls recovered to win the next three games and won in five.
Just a year later, the defending champion Bulls returned to basketball’s biggest stage to face Clyde Drexler and the Portland Trail Blazers. A month prior, Sports Illustrated declared that Drexler was Jordan’s ‘No. 1 rival’ on the cover of its May 11, 1992 issue.
Though the two teams split the first four games of the series, the Bulls hoisted the Larry O’Brien for a second straight years after six matchups.
In 1993, Jordan and his teammates defeated Charles Barkley – the 1992-93 season’s MVP – and the Phoenix Suns in six games, with Jordan recording 33 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in Game 6.
Jordan and the Bulls went on to defeat Gary Payton’s Seattle Supersonics in 1997, and John Stockton’s Utah Jazz, twice, in 1997 and 1998.
Off the court, Jordan’s partnership with Nike to create the massively popular ‘Jordan Brand’ was arguably just as impactful as his basketball achievements, with the deal helping solidify Nike as the world’s biggest sneaker company and ushered in an era of lucrative collaborations between athletes and sneaker companies. His relationship with Nike ultimately helped Jordan become the first NBA player to attain a net worth of $1 billion.
Last year, Jordan sold the majority stake of the Charlotte Hornets for approximately $3billion, more than 10 times the $275M he had paid for the team in 2006. iconic ‘Flu Game’ sneakers – the Air Jordan XII – sold for $1.38M in June.
What’s more is, that Jordan’s Bulls jersey from Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Finals sold for a mammoth $10.09M at auction – over double its estimate – to become the most-expensive piece of game-worn sports memorabilia ever in September 2022.