Michael Jordan’s iconic Chicago Bull jersey worn during one of his victorious trips to the NBA Finals will go on sale next month and it is expected to rival the record for the most expensive item of sports memorabilia sold at auction.
The jersey - with Jordan’s synonymous no.23 emblazoned across it - was worn during Game 1 of his sixth and final championship series. The Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz 4-2 in the Finals, but the Jazz took Game 1 with a 88-85 win.
It proved to be Jordan’s final season with the Bulls and the jersey has been put up for sale with Sotheby’s online auction. Experts believe the shirt could generate between £3 million and £5m as it goes on sale until September 14.
The jersey will therefore rival the most expensive pieces of sporting memorabilia ever sold - but which auctions have generated the biggest spends in history?
Diego Maradona’s Argentina shirt worn vs England in 1986 World Cup quarter-final
The record belongs to Diego Maradona’s shirt worn during his performance against England in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final. The shirt - which the Argentine wore as he scored an infamous brace with ‘The Hand of God’ goal - was sold at an auction for £7.1m in May 2022.
Maradona also scored the goal dubbed the ‘Goal of the Century’ as he dribbled past six England players before rounding Peter Shilton and rolling the ball into the net. The shirt was sold by former Nottingham Forest defender Steve Hodge, who had swapped jerseys with Maradona at full-time in the match, and it had resided in Manchester’s National Football Museum for the last 20 years but was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in May.
Original Olympic Games Manifesto
The original copy of Pierre de Coubertin’s 1892 speech in which he revealed his vision for a modern version of the Olympic Games was sold for a whopping £7m in December 2019. The 14-page document set the world record for an auction fee for sports memorabilia at the time of its sale.
Coubertin originally delivered the famous speech in front of a large crowd at the Sorbonne to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the French Athletics Association. Two years after the speech, Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee and the modern Olympic Games launched in Athens in 1896.
T206 Honus Wagner 1909 baseball card
In August 2021, a T206 Honus Wagner baseball card sold for £5.4m to break the previous record for the highest-selling sports card in history. The card portrays Pittsburgh Pirates baseball player Wagner, who is considered one of the best baseball players of all time.
The card was made by the American Tobacco Company from 1909 to 1911. Wagner stopped production of the card, which meant that there were only a very minimal number of cards distributed to the public and thus its scarcity contributes to its value.
Babe Ruth 1928-1930 jersey
Legendary baseball star Babe Ruth had a jersey sold for £4.4m at an auction in New York in 2019. The shirt was worn by Ruth for three seasons as he became one of the greatest players in history, winning seven World Series titles across his 22-year career.
Topps Mickey Mantle 1952 baseball card
Another baseball card, a 1952 edition of Mickey Mantle sold for £4.2m in January 2021 and originally set the record for the most expensive sports card at the time. The former New York Yankees star was a Triple Crown winner in 1956, a three-time American League MVP and a seven-tine World Series champion.
Upper Deck LeBron James rookie card
LeBron James’ rookie card from the 2003-04 Upper Deck Exquisite collection set the record for the most expensive basketball card when it sold for £4.2m in April 2021. There are only 23 copies of the card, which reflects James’ famous jersey number.
James is one of the greatest players in NBA history, winning four MVP awards and four championships. This rookie card was number seven of the 23 and was sold via a private sale with PWCC.
Babe Ruth 1920 jersey
Ruth’s aura and fame across baseball means he is on this list for a second time; his 1920 shirt was sold for £3.6m when it was listed by California-based SCP Auctions. The piece reportedly is housed in one of Lelands.com ’s clients after the memorabilia company purchased the jersey.
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The shirt was worn by Ruth during his first season with the New York Yankees in 1920 after he left the Boston Red Sox. It had been on display at the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum in Baltimore before it was sold in 2012.
James Naismith’s Rules of Basketball from 1891
James Naismith’s 13 Rules of Basketball document sold for £3.5m in 2010. The document is viewed as one of the most important manuscripts in the sport’s history, after Naismith wrote the guidelines as he invented basketball in the winter of 1891.
The 119-year-old document outlines the 13 rules Naismith came up with while working as a physical education instructor at the Christian association in order to create a new indoor sport for his class. The proceeds of the sale were donated to the Naismith Basketball Foundation.
Daniel Lucius Adams’ Rule of Baseball
Similar to Naismith’s document, Daniel Lucius Adams is one of the key founders of baseball. The document he wrote outlining the laws of the sport sold for £2.6m at an auction in 2016.
The manuscript, titles ‘Laws of Base Ball’, was sold by SCP auctions in 2016. Adams penned the rules while he was president of the New York Knicks in 1857. The document was used by 14 New York-based baseball teams to ultimately land on a general set of rules for the sport.
