By Neil Shefferd |
Shoes worn by double Olympic basketball champion Michael Jordan have sold for a record amount at auction.
The shoes went under the hammer in New York today and fetched $560,000, more than four times their original estimate, as reported by Bloomberg.
Bidding for the Air Jordan 1s, custom-made for the former Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards player, in sizes 13 and 13 a half, and in Bulls colors, started more than a week ago with predictions they would go for around $150,000.
The trainers were worn by Jordan during his rookie season with the Bulls in 1984-85.
They were auctioned by Sotheby’s, who held an earlier record for trainers at auction, when a pair of Moon Shoes by Nike were sold for $437,500 last year.
Today’s sale also broke the previous record for shoes used in sports sold at auction, when a pair of shoes worn by Sir Roger Bannister as he became the first man to run a mile in under four minutes, in 1954, sold for $409,000.
Sotheby’s said the Air Jordan 1s came from the collection of Jordan Geller, a collector and founder of the ShoeZeum, a trainer museum.
Geller said he decided to sell the shoes to coincide with the release of the finale of the ESPN documentary The Last Dance, which tells the story of Jordan’s career at the Bulls, where he won six National Basketball Association Championships.
“Jordy always has a great sense of timing for these things,” said Brahm Wachter of Sotheby’s, who ran the auction, as reported by Action Network.
“We are thrilled with the price.
“It just speaks to Michael Jordan’s incredible legacy and people recognising him as the greatest athlete to ever play.”
The previous record for a pair of shoes worn by Jordan in a match was when a pair of converse shoes he wore at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles sold for $190,373 in June 2017.
Jordan was part of two gold medal winning United States teams at Olympic Games – Los Angeles 1984 and Barcelona 1992.
Last month, a signed Jordan Dream Team jersey, which he wore as the US took gold in Barcelona, sold at auction for $216,000.
Republished with permission from insidethegames.biz.