A staggering $482,600 was the sale price of the pair of Air Jordan 11s Michael Jordan wore and signed during the 1996 NBA Finals – about $100,000 above its projected auction value.
The size 13.5 sneakers have a black upper in the “Bred” colorway, a white midsole with Michael Jackson’s autograph, a red outsole, and inner coding that reads “Sample FTPS.”
Jesse Sluyter, a ballboy for the Seattle Supersonics who worked the team’s home games during the 1996 Finals, is the source of its origins.
He mentioned that the basketball player had given him and every one of his friends a shoe and that they had come together for the auction.
Through Sotheby’s, Sluyter stated, “Michael Jordan and I got along really well in the Finals, and he was very humble and sincere in all of his interactions.”
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Sluyter also mentioned that he and Jordan discussed Sluyter’s health during one of the locker room TV appearances.
Sluyter received two tickets to the final game from the athlete, who also instructed him to invite his parents. “That ballboy, which is me, and my best friend,” Michael Jordan replied when the Chicago Bulls’ equipment manager later asked him who was going to receive his sneakers after Game 5.
“I asked Jordan if he would autograph the sneakers after he took care of the media, spoke with the coaches, and looked after a child from the Make-a-Wish Foundation. “Have a good night,” he smiled as he finished. “I said farewell to him and wrapped up my work for the evening,” he said.
Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to a 4-2 series victory in the Finals after dominating the Seattle Supersonics. Jordan won the coveted Finals MVP award for a record-tying fourth time during the team’s inaugural two-peat title run.
Darren Rovell claims that the shoes were put up for auction by Sotheby’s and brought in $482,600.
Jordan’s game-used finals shoes have always been highly sought-after and regarded as legendary sports memorabilia items.
The Jordan XII sneakers that the five-time MVP wore during Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals sold for $1.38 million at auction in June 2023, while the Nike Air Ship shoes he wore in his fifth career NBA game sold for $624,000.
This isn’t the first of Jordan’s shoes to be auctioned; in February, one of Jordan’s shoes from the final game of each of the six NBA Finals victories was bundled together and sold for an astounding $8 million.