Seventeen years after leaving the basketball courts, Michael Jordan continues to panic the counters. Those at auctions, now, are racing for everything related to the star of the Chicago Bulls. Just three months after setting a first sales record for sports shoes auctioned at $ 560,000, a pair of Air Jordan 1s worn by the player sold for $ 615,000 (521,000 euros at the current price), at an online auction, Christie’s announced on Friday.
Organized by the famous auction house and in association with Stadium Goods, the first online platform for reselling sneakers and sportswear, the auctions took place from July 30 to August 13. The shoes offered use the red and white trim, as well as the black “swoosh” (Nike comma) of the famous Air Jordan 1 Chicago model, created especially for Michael Jordan. This pair was worn by the back of the Bulls in a contested friendly on August 25, 1985 in Trieste, Italy.
Plexiglas in the shoe
On a promotional tour for Nike , Michael Jordan had donned the jersey of Stefanel Trieste, one of the Italian first division teams, to face Juve Caserta. The player had finished meeting her by having registered no less than 30 points.
But this match is best known for precise action. At the end of the game, the American rear flew off at the end of the counterattack to “dunk”. A gesture that blew up the Plexiglas on the panel. The left shoe retained a piece of it in its sole, Christie’s said at the time of sale.
The day Michael Jordan smashed a basketball backboard (from 2’20 video)
The madness of auctions “MJ”
While they are now the most expensive athletic shoes in the world, the auction was slightly below what Christie’s estimated. This was indeed counting on a price of between 650,000 and 850,000 dollars. It must be said that the auction house had something to be enthusiastic about, so much a wind of madness blows around all the objects relating to “MJ”, from jerseys to collectible cards, through the shoes. The documentary “The Last Dance”, broadcast by ESPN and Netflix, which is dedicated to him is no stranger to this renewed attention for the star of the Bulls.
“For a long time there have been sales of cult objects that belonged to great sportsmen. But Michael Jordan is the Picasso of sport, the living legend of basketball ”, enthusiastically Aline Sylla-Walbaum, Global CEO of Luxury at Christie’s, at the time of auction announcement.
In total, the auction house has auctioned no less than 11 pairs of shoes that belonged to “MJ”. Nine were purchased, for a total amount of $ 931,875. The Air Ships, the model worn by Michael Jordan at the very start of his first professional season in 1984, before the Air Jordan 1 launched, have not found a buyer. This pair was estimated between 350,000 and 550,000 dollars.
With AFP
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