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CNN \u2014<\/p>\nMichael Jordan\u2019s \u2018Last Dance\u2019 1998 Finals jersey sells for a record $12.26 million<\/p>\n
CNN \u2014<\/p>\n
A jersey worn by Michael Jordan during one of the most famous seasons of his career sold at auction for $12.26 million on Tuesday to become the most expensive basketball jersey to ever cross the block.<\/p>\n
The white mesh top emblazoned with Jordan’s iconic number “23” was worn by the star during Game 3 of his legendary 1998 NBA Finals run. It was the end of his time with the Chicago Bulls, known as “The Last Dance,” which was chronicled in a 2020 ESPN and Netflix documentary series of the same name.<\/p>\n
During the pivotal game against the Utah Jazz, Jordan delivered a crushing performance in front of a home-court crowd that helped shift the series in the Bulls’ favor, with Jordan ultimately leading the team to win its sixth championship in eight seasons.<\/p>\n
The shirt is the only publicly known white game-winning jersey from the 1998 Finals ever put on sale, making it an extremely rare piece of memorabilia, according to Joopiter, the online auction house that hosted the sale.<\/p>\n
“The significance of this jersey extends well beyond the box score,” Joopiter had written on its online auction listing<\/a>.<\/p>\n “This is the type of object collectors wait a lifetime for \u2014 an irreplaceable artifact that transcends basketball to become a piece of global cultural history,” said Caitlin Donovan, the auction platform’s global head of sales, in a press release prior to the sale’s conclusion.<\/p>\n In becoming the most expensive basketball jersey ever sold at auction, the shirt surpassed the previous record set by another Jordan jersey from Game 1 of the same finals.<\/p>\n In 2022, a red jersey worn during that matchup where the Bulls lost, sold for $10.1 million, more than double initial estimates, CNN previously reported.<\/a><\/p>\n In 2021, a jersey also worn by the player during his sophomore season at the University of North Carolina set an auction record at the time when it sold for $1.38 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n The current record for the most expensive sports collectible ever sold is held by Babe Ruth’s “Called Shot” jersey, which sold for $24.12 million<\/a> in 2024. Ruth wore the jersey during Game 3 of the 1932 World Series, when he appeared to gesture toward something in center field just before hitting a fifth-inning home run into the bleachers, a story which is now part of baseball lore.<\/p>\n Still, Jordan remains one of the most celebrated athletes, with online memorabilia sales consistently topping current top stars.<\/p>\n