Basketball legend Michael Jordan’s old shoes continue to sell for “huge” prices

A pair of basketball legend Michael Jordan’s famous Air Jordans from the 1984-1985 season sold for $152,500 at a Sotheby’s auction.

Though considered a niche hobby 10 years ago, sneakers are now one of the fastest-growing markets at auction, attracting attention from the public and top collectors alike. The “Gamers Only” auction, conducted entirely online, featured 13 pairs of game-worn basketball shoes from some of the NBA’s greatest players , including Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Shaquille O’Neal.

According to Sotheby’s, the Jordan shoes up for auction this time – Nike Air Jordan 1s, not only changed basketball shoes forever but are considered the foundation for the development of sneaker culture . The pair sold – in the red, white and black of the Chicago Bulls – was worn by Michael Jordan during the American basketball legend’s stellar 1984-1985 debut season.

Nike Air Jordan 1s worn by Michael Jordan in the 1984 – 1985 season

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Jordan, 58, is a six-time NBA champion and is widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time. “The Air Jordan 1s were one of the big hits,” Josh Pullan, managing director of Sotheby’s division, told AFP. “There’s a little bit of wear on the toe and around the heel, and that gives us a sense of what happened in the game when they were worn. These were worn by someone who everyone knows is Michael Jordan, so they have perfect provenance.”

Last year, a pair of Air Jordans worn by Michael Jordan in a 1985 game sold for $560,000 at a Sotheby’s auction, setting a world record for the highest price paid for any pair of sneakers at auction.

Michael Jordan sneakers sell for $560,000 at Sotheby’s auction

The vintage 1985 pair — in the iconic white, black and red of the Chicago Bulls — were worn by the NBA legend during his rookie season.

A pair of 1985 Nike Air Jordan 1s, made for and worn by U.S. basketball player Michael Jordan, sold for a record $560,000 at Sotheby’s New York.Sotheby’s / Reuters

Michael Jordan was no stranger to smashing records during his basketball career, and a pair of his signed, game-worn Air Jordan sneakers just set a new one after selling for $560,000 at auction in New York.

The vintage 1985 pair — in the iconic white, black and red of the Chicago Bulls — were worn by the NBA legend during his rookie season in Chicago and brought to auction at Sotheby’s by a private collector.

The sale — coming 35 years after the release of the first Air Jordan — coincided with the final episodes of the smash-hit ESPN documentary series “The Last Dance,” which tells the story of Jordan’s career and his final championship with the Bulls.

Ten bidders across four continents competed for the coveted sneakers in an online auction that lasted 10 days, Sotheby’s said in a press release. A bidding war in the final 20 minutes pushed the price up over $300,000, the auction house said, meaning the sold price far exceeded the $150,000 estimate.

Jordan wore mismatched shoes for most of his career and so the sneakers are in different sizes. The left comes in at size 13 and the right a 13.5.

The Air Jordan 1 is credited with kick-starting the craze of sneaker culture in the NBA and turned Nike — then a small company — into a global household name. The sneaker became so popular that Nike continues to release new Jordans to this day despite the player’s final NBA game having taken place over 17 years ago.

The huge success of the shoe spurred other NBA players to tie up deals for their own branded shoes. Some of the most popular shoes on the market today carry the names of present-day greats LeBron James, Steph Curry and James Harden.

The record-breaking price tag surpasses the $437,500 set just last year at Sotheby’s for the Nike Waffle Racing Flat “Moon Shoe.” Only about 12 pairs of the Moon Shoe were ever made, with fewer still known to be in existence, Sotheby’s reported at the time.

Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s Director of eCommerce Development, said that the “strong international bidding from six countries on four continent shows not only the incredible appeal of Michael Jordan as one of the most recognizable and legendary athletes of all time, but also that sneaker collecting is truly a global and growing market.”