One of the most iconic pieces of Michael Jordan sports memorabilia has made auction history, after his game-worn jersey from the Chicago Bulls legend’s legendary 1998 ‘Last Dance’ season fetched $12.3 million (£9.3 million) — the highest price ever paid for a Jordan-related collectible.
The sleeveless jersey was worn by Jordan during Game 3 of the 1998 NBA Finals, the final championship run of his first tenure with the Bulls. That series saw Jordan lead Chicago to a 4-2 victory over the Utah Jazz, securing his sixth NBA title with the franchise. Remarkably, Jordan claimed the Finals Most Valuable Player award for all six of his championship runs with the Bulls, cementing his status as the greatest player in basketball history.
This new sale price breaks the previous record for Jordan memorabilia, set just earlier when another 1998 Finals jersey — worn by Jordan in Game 1 of that same series — sold for $10.1 million (£7.6 million). The Game 3 jersey was listed for auction by entrepreneur Ryan Gough at Joopiter, the digital auction platform founded by superstar musician and producer Pharrell Williams. Ahead of the bidding, Joopiter had projected the item would sell between $10 million and $15 million, a range that the final hammer price fell comfortably within.
Alongside the star jersey, another Jordan item also turned heads at auction: the basketball icon’s 1997 Ferrari 550 Maranello sold for $2.7 million (£2 million), four times the previous auction record for that specific Ferrari model.
In its official listing description, Joopiter emphasized the unique cultural significance of the 1998 Finals jersey, noting: ‘Few objects in the history of sport embody greatness as completely as Michael Jordan’s game three jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals. Worn during the Last Dance… it marks the culmination of an era that transformed basketball into a global cultural phenomenon. Today it stands among the most important game-worn sports artifacts ever to come to market.’
While the jersey set a new record for Jordan collectibles, it remains below the all-time record for a piece of game-worn sports memorabilia. That benchmark still belongs to a jersey worn by baseball legend Babe Ruth during his famous ‘called shot’ at the 1932 World Series, which sold for $24.1 million (£18.2 million) in 2024.