Michael Jordan’s game-worn jersey from Game 3 of the 1998 NBA Finals was auctioned Tuesday for $12,260,000, setting a new record for an NBA jersey sale. The item was sold by Rob Gough via Joopiter, a digital marketplace and auction house curated by Pharrell Williams.
The auction closed at 8:06 p.m. EST and had been projected to sell for between $10 million and $15 million; the auction received one bid before closing, according to The Athletic. The final price surpassed the previous record, Jordan’s Game 1 jersey from the same 1998 series, which sold for $10.1 million at Sotheby’s in September 2022.
The jersey was registered in August, authenticated by MeiGray in December 2015 and photo-matched to two specific images from Getty Images. Gough was in possession of the jersey after purchasing it in 2023, according to Sportico.
Prior ownership is detailed in a March 2015 letter posted on Joopiter. In the letter, Bill Thoma of Chicago wrote that he had bought the jersey from Evan LaManna, a sales manager and partner in Upper Class Collectibles in New Jersey, and said the transaction occurred “about 8 or 9 years ago.” Thoma also wrote that LaManna had a professional relationship with Jordan and obtained the jersey from a “close associate” of the Hall of Famer.
The jersey features an NBA Finals logo patch at the top right chest, mesh material and an NBA Authentics tag with a size 50 tag at the bottom left. In Game 3, Jordan finished with 24 points, three rebounds and two assists in a 96-54 win that gave Chicago a 2-1 lead over the Utah Jazz. The Bulls went on to win the 1998 Finals in six games; Jordan announced his second retirement on Jan. 13, 1999 and finished his NBA career with six championships.
