Christie’s Is Auctioning Some of Michael Jordan’s Rarest Game-Worn Sneakers

Evan Romano

July 16, 2020 2:04 PM

In 1992, a Gatorade commercial aired (with an accompanying catchy tuner) that forever immortalized the phrase "Be Like Mike." Ten years later, a movie called Like Mikestarring Bow Wow and featuring a plethora of real NBA playerswas released. Now, in 2020, people might have their best chance yet to actually be like Mike: because Christie's Auction House has announced an online sale called "Original Air," which will put 11 of Michael Jordan's most historic pieces of game-worn footwear on sale at the same time. OK, well, in some cases maybe not regular people, as the auction house is estimating that the most expensive of the lot could go for as much as $550,000.

You Can Bid on Michael Jordan's Rarest Sneakers

The sale, which will open for browsing on July 23, will have open bidding between July 31 and August 13. With The Last Dance airing this spring, Jordan's mythos (while always massive) has seemingly reached an all-time high, which makes this sale of some of his rarest and most recognizable sneakers perfectly-timed. Additionally, a portion of proceeds from the sale's top lots will be designated to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. "The pieces weve put together for this auction are truly unique, and will have deep resonance for Jordan fans, sneaker connoisseurs and pop culture collectors alike," said John McPherson, the co-founder and CEO of Stadium Goods, who are putting the sale on in coordination with Christie's.

The first lot includes 3 pairs of notable Jordan-worn sneakers. The firstand most expensiveare actually not technically even Air Jordans. Before the Air Jordan 1 was even released, Jordan wore the Nike Air Ships for at the beginning of his rookie year, during the preseason and early regular season. These were also custom madethe left shoe is a size 13.5, while the right is a 13. Christie's sourced the sneakers from New Jersey Nets equipment manager, and their extremely rare nature has led to them being the most expensive item of the bunchtheir estimated price is between $350,000 and $550,000.

Additional sneakers available for sale include the Air Jordan 7 "Olympic," which Jordan wore for Game 7 of the 1992 Olympics against Croatia, when he was playing with the team known as the "Dream Team," alongside Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, among many notable others. This sneaker was sourced by a receptionist form the Ambassador Hotel in Barcelona, where the USA team stayedthe sneaker, along with a Magic Johnson shirt (also included in the package) was gifted to the hotel upon their exit. These are estimated to go in the modest range of $50,000 to $70,000.

air jordan 7 olympics christies BusinessInsider USA Images

Anyone who really loved The Last Dance (or Chicago Bulls fans who really loved that final title) might be particularly excited about another pair that the Original Air auction has available, a practice-worn pair of Air Jordan 14 "Chicago" sneakers, which MJ wore during practice between games of the 1998 finals against the Utah Jazz (as seen in The Last Dance's exclusive practice footage). Those have an expected price of "only" $6,000-$8,000.

michael jordan christy's auction BusinessInsider USA Images

The vast majority of us, to be honest, will not be bidding on these items. But for any NBA fan, or fan of the culture surrounding the game (which has, of course, also now crossed into fashion and style), it's really cool to see the items from ground zero be available for whoever is willing to put the money up. And it's even better that Christie's and Stadium Goods are willing to put a portion of the proceeds up for a good cause at the NAACP LDFespecially now, when those funds are needed the most. Whether you're bidding on these or not, we hope the price is high, because the products sure look worth it.

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Evan Romano