A game-worn, autographed Michael Jordan jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals has sold for $14 million, the highest price ever paid for a piece of basketball memorabilia, according to the auction house that brokered the deal. Hunt Auctions announced the private sale on Monday, Oct. 12, the Associated Press reports.
The jersey and the buyer
The red road jersey is the one Jordan wore in Game 2 of the 1998 Finals on June 5, 1998, when the Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz to even the series at a game apiece. Hunt Auctions named the buyer as Miami real estate investor Ron Firman. The jersey was bought from the Bulls by a private collector in 2003 and has changed hands only once since, the auction house said.
“While Michael Jordan’s importance within the sports memorabilia marketplace has long been established it has now escalated to an elite asset class more typically reserved for iconic works of art,” said Hunt Auctions president David Hunt.
How it compares
The AP notes $14 million is the second-highest known price for a game-worn jersey, behind the $24.12 million paid in 2024 for the Babe Ruth “called shot” jersey. It is at least the third time a Jordan jersey from that Finals has sold for $10 million or more. A Game 1 jersey sold at auction for about $10.1 million in 2022, and a Game 3 jersey sold last month for about $12.3 million.
The Bulls went on to win the series in six games, the sixth and final title of Jordan’s career. That 1997-98 season was the subject of the 10-episode “The Last Dance” documentary released in 2020. In 2023, a pair of Air Jordan sneakers Jordan wore in Game 2 sold at Sotheby’s for $2.2 million, the AP adds.
Sources: Associated Press (via ABC News) and ESPN, Oct. 12, 2026. Featured image is an editorial illustration, not a photo of the jersey.
