Michael Jordan is one of the most popular athletes in sports history, and the exceptional basketball player's memorabilia are correspondingly expensive. Now the auction of a jersey breaks all boundaries: A collector pays a double-digit million amount for a very special jersey.
A jersey worn by basketball legend Michael Jordan has been auctioned in New York for a record sum of around ten million dollars. The auction house Sotheby's announced after the auction that it was the most expensive basketball jersey ever sold.
There were around 20 bids for the garment. The auction house initially did not say who finally made the highest bid of $ 10.1 million (around 10 million euros). Sotheby's originally valued the shirt at around $5 million. Jordan wore the jersey in the first game of the 1998 NBA Finals. Jordan played 45 minutes in Game 1 - more than any other game in the Finals series - and helped the game go into overtime. He scored 33 points. The basketball player and his Chicago Bulls had won the 1998 final series 4-2 against the Utah Jazz. It was the legendary number 23's sixth and final championship. The '98 season cemented the Hall of Famer's legacy as the greatest basketball player of all time.
"Jordan's 1998 NBA Finals Game 1 jersey is one of the most coveted pieces of sports memorabilia, and this example is one of only two Finals jerseys ever to be auctioned from any of its six championships," according to Sotheby's. Last year, the American's sports shoes, which he wore in his first season in the NBA, were auctioned for $ 1.5 million.
The most expensive jersey ever auctioned was a jersey by Argentinian footballer Diego Maradona from 1986, which changed hands a few months ago for 8.4 million euros.
