They have always been incredibly popular, but itโs hard to deny that Michael Jordanโs sneakers are currently having a massive cultural moment. Following the release of Ben Affleck and Matt Damonโs sports drama Air, as well as a series of Sothebyโs auctions surrounding the โJordan Yearโ โ a reference to MJโs number 23 โ it seems to be all anyone wants to talk about. Following yesterdayโs sale of the pair of Nike Air Jordan 13s that were worn at the 1998 NBA Finals, Sothebyโs has absolutely smashed the previous auction record for a pair of sneakers sold.
The previous record was set at US$1.47 million (AU$1.95 million) in 2021 by collector Nick Fiorella, who purchased a pair of Michael Jordanโs game-worn Nike shoes from 1984 that pre-date his signature shoe line. The latest pair that were sold came in at a whopping US$2.2 million (AU$3.3 million), beating the auction houseโs low estimate of US$2 million (AU$3 million) and falling short of its high estimate of US$4 million (AU$6 million).
There is some serious cool factor to these bad boys. It came from Game 2 of the 1998 NBA Finals, which was Michael Jordanโs Last Dance season with the Chicago Bulls. After falling down 1-0 in the series against the Utah Jazz, this game saw Jordan lead his team to a much-needed 93-88 victory with a game-high 37 points over 40 minutes. The environment of the Utah crowd was so hostile, the mother of Michael Jordanโs kids actually banned them from attending the game.
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After securing the win, Michael Jordan signed his shoes from the game and gave them to the ball boy responsible for the visitorsโ locker room. The ball boy had helped Jordan find his lost jacket during an earlier practice, so Michael Jordan returned the favour by giving the kid a pair of shoes that would eventually be worth over $3 million, 25 years later.
In the present day, the Air Jordan 13 shoes that Sothebyโs just sold are in immaculate condition, with large silver signatures on each toe box without a single smudge. They are also the only pair of authenticated game-worn Michael Jordan sneakers from any of his 6 NBA Finals series or from any of his 1998 NBA postseason games.
This shoe is particularly controversial, too.
The โBredโ nickname for these Air Jordans is shorthand for โBlack and Redโ which matched the Chicago Bullsโ colours. The Breds were banned by the NBA due to the colours violating their strict uniform code and would result in a $5,000 per game fine for Jordan as a result. It became a deeply mythologised pair of sneakers โ helped in large part due to their 1998 release amidst the Bullsโ postseason success โ and Nike marketed them as rebellious: โFortunately, the NBA canโt stop you from wearing them.โ
This particular pair was ultimately the last Nike Air Jordan 13 โBredโ shoes that Michael Jordan would ever wear, which undeniably added to its price tag at Sothebyโs. Itโs quite possibly the single coolest pair of sneakers that someone could own.
