Michael Jordan's Signed 'Nike Air Ship' Shoes from 5th NBA Game Sell for $624K
The Nike Air Ship sneakers Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan wore in his fifth career NBA game sold at over a half-million dollars at auction on Wednesday night.
Per Goldin Auctions, $520,000 was the winning bid for the game-worn, autographed shoes, although the final price was bumped up to $624,000 due to the buyer's premium, which is a 22 percent fee to cover auction costs.
While Jordan is the face of Nike's iconic Air Jordan brand, he wore Nike Air Ships during his NBA rookie season in 1984 before Air Jordan was officially established.
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As explained by Goldin Auctions founder Ken Goldin, photo matching definitively identifies the shoes that were auctioned Wednesday as being worn by MJ in his fifth career game against the Denver Nuggets on Nov. 1, 1984, although it is possible he wore them as early as his first or second career game as well:
Former Nuggets ball boy Tj Lewis was the first to sell the shoes at a previous auction for $1.47 million, and as part of the latest auction for Goldin, he told the story of how he acquired them.
Lewis said he asked Jordan during the shootaround if he could have his sneakers after the game, but Jordan initially declined, saying they were "too expensive."
When Jordan saw Lewis after the game, he had a change of heart, gifted Lewis the shoes and signed them. Jordan signed only his name on one of the shoes, and he signed "My Very Best To Tj Michael Jordan" on the other.
Jordan finished the 16-point loss to Denver with 17 points, five assists and five rebounds, so while it wasn't necessarily a memorable game, the shoes are the earliest known example of sneakers His Airness wore in an NBA game.
As a rookie, Jordan averaged 28.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game en route to being named an All-Star and the NBA Rookie of the Year.
Jordan went on to become arguably the greatest player in NBA history, winning six NBA championships, six NBA Finals MVP awards and five NBA MVP awards over 15 illustrious seasons.
