A famous trading card and sports memorabilia collector and one of the most notable auction houses are at odds over the pending sale of a massive piece (both literally and figuratively) of Chicago Bulls history.
Logan Paul filed a temporary restraining order against Heritage Auctions earlier this week following concerns over the authenticity of a large slab of wooden basketball flooring autographed by Michael Jordan that Paul won through an auction. The piece had been deemed to be a segment of game-used United Center court used by the Chicago Bulls from 1994 through 1998, when the team won its second three-peat of the decade.
This item was in the same auction as the one-of-a-kind Jordan and Kobe Bryant 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection dual Logoman (the NBA logo patch from each of their game-worn jerseys) autographed patch card, which became the most expensive sports card ever sold publicly at $12.932 million.
Let’s take a look at what’s behind the lawsuit:
First things first, who is Logan Paul?
Paul is most famous for being a YouTube star and social media influencer who later became co-founder of beverage company Prime and a WWE wrestler. He’s also one of the most high-profile figures in the collectibles world in terms of buying high-end items. Paul sometimes wears a his 1998 Pokemon Pikachu Illustrator Holo card with a gem mint 10 graded from PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator) around his neck, including for his Wrestlemania 38 ring entrance. The card carries an estimated value of $5 million.
What did he buy and for how much?
Paul won an 8-by-8-foot section of “1994-98 United Center original game used court” bearing the full Bulls logo that’s been autographed by Jordan. The Bulls legend also penned inscriptions reading “Air Jordan,” “5X MVP,” “6X Finals MVP,” “10X Scoring Title” and “HOF 2009.” Paul secured the item in a Heritage auction for $562,555.42.
An unBULLievable piece
An 8ft x 8ft piece of the Bulls court used at the United Center during Chicago’s second three-peat
Then His Airness penned a 3ft signature on it with more inscriptions than we’ve ever seen from MJ 🐐 https://t.co/BSbBy1HD2G pic.twitter.com/UDDjatLguW
— Heritage Auctions Sports (@Heritage_Sport) August 8, 2025
Why is he suing the auction house?
Paul filed a temporary restraining order against Heritage because of concerns over the authenticity of the piece of flooring actually being from the United Center during the specified timeframe. Paul claims he wasn’t able to investigate the authenticity of the piece before the payment to Heritage was due, which was Thursday. He also claims that Heritage would remove his rights to the item without the payment. Both sides agreed to the TRO on Thursday, meaning Heritage agreed to allow the rights to the autographed court piece to remain with Paul despite the payment deadline passing.
So he’s not questioning the authenticity of Jordan’s autograph, just the piece it’s on?
Yes. Paul claims in the lawsuit that the item “does not match the court from 1995-1998, as a result of the court either being replaced or, as Heritage claims, repainted and resurfaced.” Upper Deck authenticated the Jordan autograph and inscription with Beckett also verifying the signature. Upper Deck has held exclusive rights to Jordan autographed items since 2009.
Where did Heritage get the piece from?
It’s not clear who consigned the autographed item to Heritage, but the auction house said Upper Deck acquired the floor directly from the Chicago Bulls.
What does Paul’s legal team say about this?
“Logan Paul is a highly respected and experienced memorabilia collector who wanted one thing here – a reasonable period of time to investigate the authenticity of an item for which he was the high bidder at auction,” says Josh Bernstein of Akerman LLP, Paul’s counsel, in a statement to The Athletic. “It is shocking that Heritage Auctions – which itself claims that it ‘takes the authenticity of the material that we sell [and] auction very seriously’ – would not allow Logan to perform that investigation and instead demanded that he immediately make payment of over $500,000.00 under threat of losing the item completely.
“Heritage’s position is particularly egregious considering that there are serious and documented concerns as to authenticity, as detailed in the lawsuit. In fact, since filing the lawsuit, additional inconsistencies have arisen, including with respect to Heritage Auction’s representation that the consignor was the person who secured Michael Jordan’s autograph on the item. One would think that Heritage Auctions would be aligned with Logan in determining that an item it is selling is authentic, and that a consignor it is working with is legitimate.”
What does Heritage have to say about this?
Heritage said in a statement to The Athletic:
“Heritage Auctions does not believe that the buyer has any merit to their claims, and we stand behind every item that we sell. This lot would not have been included for sale at auction unless we were fully confident in the authenticity.
“The Chicago Bulls court piece is authenticated and warranted as authentic by The Upper Deck company that originally acquired it directly from the Bulls organization, and it also has extensive third-party autograph authentication from Beckett Authentication, as well as photo-matching authentication from PSA.
“Moreover, Heritage made allowances for the buyer to accommodate any in-person inspection and reasonable efforts for additional review.”
What other notable collectibles does Paul own?
The famed $5 million Pokemon Illustrator card stands as Paul’s most prized collectible.
“It takes a really bold — and maybe ‘stupid’ is the word,” Paul said about the card during a Fanatics Fest panel in June with actress Emma Roberts and Tom Brady. “Stupid. I don’t know. I don’t know what it is. It takes a bold person to spend $5 million on a piece of cardboard.”
But he’s also an avid card and memorabilia collector of all sports. Last year, he bought a hockey stick used by Wayne Gretzky in the 1988 Stanley Cup finals for $336,000, setting a record for a game-used NHL stick.
She wasn’t happy lol 😬 NEW EPISODE OF #PaulAmerican LIVE ON @Max
“(Hype) that’s why we collect. It’s awesome,” Paul said. “But it depends why you collect it, right? There’s a lot of reasons why people collect. Whether it’s for the rush of hitting the card that you want in the pack rip. Or you love that feeling of nostalgia. Or you like the idea of holding an asset that could potentially be appreciated. I do all three. I love everything about it.”
Paul, though, also nearly lost $3.5 million on a trading card purchase in 2022. He purchased a sealed case of 1st Edition Pokémon Base Set booster boxes. Those boxes actually contained G.I. Joe cards.
“It had been verified to be legit by a very reputable box verification company,” Paul explained during the June panel. “Before I wanted to spend $3 million on it, I wanted to see if it was real. … If you want to see me almost lose $3 million, it’s all online. … The guy who owns the grading company had his wife there. She started sobbing (when Paul opened the boxes revealing G.I. Joe cards). ”
How often do pieces of the United Center floor come up for sale?
It’s not an overly uncommon occurrence for autographed pieces of the Bulls’ home court to pop up for sale on marketplaces and auction houses. Some examples currently up for sale include Jordan-signed smaller pieces of flooring and a square slab autographed and inscribed by Scottie Pippen.
What happens next?
If there’s no resolution, the two sides will be due back in court on Oct. 9. Paul Lesko, a St. Louis-based lawyer known as “The Hobby Lawyer,” forecasted the lawsuit on X saying the case will likely “disappear from the courts to the secrecy of arbitration procedures.”
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(Top photo: Elsa/Getty Images)