Sotheby’s is auctioning one of the most iconic sports jerseys of all time: a Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls road red jersey worn during the team’s 1996-97 championship season. According to the fine arts broker, it is the most extensively worn and documented Bulls jersey of the basketball icon that has ever come to auction. It has an estimated value between $4-6 million.
Jordan wore the jersey for five months during the team’s run toward its fifth NBA title. It has been photo-matched for at least 17 games, including his famous “flu game” performance in Game 5 of the 1997 Finals against the Utah Jazz. In that game of lore, a sickly Jordan played 44 minutes and finished with 38 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block.
Jordan also wore the jersey when he was on the other end of a highlight, a rare moment of failure in his incomparable career. On March 12, 1997, in Philadelphia, Jordan squared up against Allen Iverson and the rookie shook up the then-reigning league MVP with a crossover at the top of the key. The moment was viewed by some as a generational shift in how basketball was played and marketed to the wider world.
“The population of pre-‘Last Dance’ jerseys is remarkably slim, with single-game jerseys from this era rarely appearing on the market,” said Brahm Wachter, the company’s head of modern collectibles in a statement. “Jordan often wore the same jersey for extended periods of time in this era, making them exceptionally rare and coveted. This jersey from the 1996-97 season is truly a unicorn.”
According to Sotheby’s, the item is the only MeiGray Authenticated red jersey from
Jordan’s first five championship seasons that has emerged publicly. Additionally, the jersey has been in the hands of a private buyer since the team initially sold it, a unique selling point as Jordan-related items have been in the possession of others over time.
The 1996-97 jersey is the centerpiece of a fine arts broker’s online auction, “Colossal—The Ultimate Jordan Collection,” which will open on Oct. 23 and run through Nov. 4. The collection includes the American flag that Jordan, a Nike athlete, draped over his shoulder to cover the Reebok logo on his Team USA jacket during the gold medal ceremony at the 1992 Summer Olympics. (The flag was signed by all of 13 members of “The Dream Team”.)
Also featured is a warm-up jersey from his days at North Carolina, a game-worn Bulls home jersey from 1989 that’s estimated to be worth over $2 million and a game-worn Bulls home jersey worn during the 1998 playoffs—the postseason of “The Last Dance” season—against the New Jersey (now Brooklyn) Nets estimated to be worth up to $1 million.
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