Michael Jordan’s ‘Last Dance’ 1998 Finals jersey sells for a record $12.26 million

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was updated with the final sale price and other details following the auction’s conclusion.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“The significance of this jersey extends well beyond the box score,” Joopiter had written on its online auction listing .

“This is the type of object collectors wait a lifetime for — 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.

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.

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.

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 .

Jeff Haynes/AFP/Getty Images

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 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.

Still, Jordan remains one of the most celebrated athletes, with online memorabilia sales consistently topping current top stars.

E-Bay users have spent more than $115 million on Jordan playing cards this year alone, according to Gemrate , a site that tracks trading card grading and sales dates — beating out every other current and previous NBA player and putting him only below Los Angeles Dodgers’ baseball star Shohei Ohtani.

编者按：本文已根据拍卖结果更新了最终成交价和其他细节。

迈克尔·乔丹在其职业生涯中最著名的赛季之一所穿的一件球衣，周二在拍卖会上以 1226 万美元的价格售出，成为有史以来拍卖价格最高的篮球球衣。

这件印有乔丹标志性号码“23”的白色网眼上衣，是这位球星在1998年NBA总决赛第三场比赛中所穿的。那场比赛也是他效力芝加哥公牛队的最后一场，这段传奇经历被称为“最后一舞”，并于2020年被ESPN和Netflix联合制作成同名纪录片。

在与犹他爵士队的关键比赛中，乔丹在主场球迷面前发挥出色，帮助公牛队扭转了系列赛的局势，最终带领球队在八个赛季中赢得了第六个总冠军。

据举办此次拍卖的在线拍卖行 Joopiter 称，这件球衣是目前唯一公开出售的 1998 年总决赛白色制胜球衣，因此是一件极其罕见的纪念品。

Joopiter 在其在线拍卖列表中写道：“这件球衣的意义远远超出了比赛数据。”

“这是收藏家们一生都在等待的那种物品——一件无可替代的文物，它超越了篮球的范畴，成为全球文化历史的一部分，”拍卖平台全球销售主管凯特琳·多诺万在拍卖结束前的新闻稿中说道。

这件球衣成为拍卖史上最昂贵的篮球球衣，打破了此前由同一总决赛第一场比赛中另一件乔丹球衣创下的纪录。

据 CNN 此前报道，2022 年，公牛队在那场失利的比赛中穿过的一件红色球衣以 1010 万美元的价格售出，是最初估价的两倍多。

2021 年，这名球员在北卡罗来纳大学二年级时穿过的一件球衣，以 138 万美元的价格售出，创下了当时的拍卖纪录。

Jeff Haynes/AFP/Getty Images

目前最昂贵的体育收藏品成交价纪录保持者是贝比·鲁斯的“指点全垒打”球衣，这件球衣在2024年以2412万美元的价格售出。鲁斯在1932年世界大赛第三场比赛中穿着这件球衣，当时他在第五局击出一记飞入看台的全垒打之前，似乎指向了中外野的某个地方，这个故事现在已成为棒球传奇的一部分。

尽管如此，乔丹仍然是最受推崇的运动员之一，其在线纪念品销售额一直超过当今的顶级球星。

据追踪球星卡评级和销售日期的网站 Gemrate 统计，仅今年一年，eBay 用户在乔丹球星卡上的花费就超过了 1.15 亿美元，超过了所有其他现役和退役的 NBA 球员，仅次于洛杉矶道奇队的棒球明星大谷翔平。