Six individual shoes worn by NBA legend Michael Jordan during the clinching games of his NBA Finals victories are set to go on sale. Sotheby’s is selling the shoes as part of its rare “Dynasty Collection” which experts predict could fetch a price of up to $100 million.
“This collection is absolutely remarkable. We’re talking about a sneaker that Michael Jordan wore during the championship win of each of his six championships, so the shoes that he wore on his feet when they won those championships,” saidJordan Geller, a shoe collector who founded the world’s first sneaker museum. “I believe that this collection could sell for $100 million.”
The shoes, dubbed the “holy grail of sneaker collecting,” each bear an inscription and a signature from the basketball Hall of Famer to highlight their authenticity. According to Sotheby’s, this set of shoes “represents the most valuable and significant collection of Air Jordan sneakers ever brought to market.” The collection, which was first put on display in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, dates from 1991 when Jordan won his first ring in the Air Jordan VI to when he hit the last shot in the 1998 NBA Finals while wearing the Air Jordan XIVs.
“They also represent the intersection of Jordan’s championship legacy and his style legacy, both of which have combined to make him a global icon,” said Brahm Wachter, the head of streetwear and modern collectables for Sotheby’s. “Because of the historical and cultural impact that they represent, as a group, they are among the most important basketball shoes a collector could own.”
Tim Hallam, the Chicago Bulls’ communications director, acquired the shoes directly from Jordan after the final buzzer of each of his six championship games. When asked about his growing sneaker collection back in 1997, Hallam explained that because he was not a player, the championship rings given out to team staff didn’t mean quite as much to him as they did to those who were on court. This led him to seek out a souvenir that was more directly connected to the game itself and is why he began asking Jordan for his shoes after the wins.
Hallam, who no longer owns the shoes but is still employed by the Bulls organization, has said that he’s “happy that the shoes are being seen by so many people.”
The impending sneakers sale comes after a jersey worn by Jordan during Game 1 of the 1998 Finals was sold in September for $10.1 million, which made it the most expensive piece of game-worn sports memorabilia ever. Now, as Sotheby’s expects each sneaker in this new collection to sell for more than the finals jersey, it seems another set of Jordan collectibles is readying to top that previous record sale.
