Jordan's Shoes From 5th NBA Game Sell For Record $1.5 Million

LAS VEGAS, NV —Michael Jordan made his NBA debut 37 years ago this week. On Sunday, a pair of his early game-worn Nike sneakers from 1984 sold in a Sotheby's auction for $1.472 million, according to the auction house.

The shoes set a new world record for highest price achieved for a pair of sneakers at auction and were the first pair of sneakers to sell for more than $1 million at auction, according to Sotheby's.

The sneakers were purchased by Nick Fiorella, a well-known collector, who previously purchased a Luka Doncic autographed basketball card for $4.6 million. He also purchased a Tom Brady rookie card at auction for $400, 100 in 2019, which was the highest price ever paid at auction for a football card at that point.

The signed pair of Jordan's size 13 Nike Air Ship sneakers are in "good overall condition, consistent with signs of wear," according to Sotheby's, and were likely not coincidentally "Lot 23" in an auction of "Icons of Excellence and Haute Luxury."

Sotheby's said the Jordan sneakers had been owned by Tommie Tim Lewis, who had been a Denver Nuggets ball boy when he was gifted the shoes that Jordan had worn in his fifth career game against the Nuggets on Nov. 1, 1984. Lewis presented a Denver Nuggets 1984 Season Staff Pass with the shoes for authentication purposes.

"To present such a groundbreaking and important pair of sneakers at this special auction in Las Vegas further solidifies the strength and broad reach of the sneaker collecting community," said Brahm Wachter, head of Sotheby's Streetwear and Modern Collectables.

Wachter continued: "This record-breaking result for the Jordan Nike Air Ships affirms the place of Michael Jordan and the Air Jordan franchise at the pinnacle of the sneaker market."

Jordan made his NBA debut on Oct. 26, 1984, against the Washington Bullets at the old Chicago Stadium. The Nov. 1 game in Denver, a 129-113 Nuggets win, was Jordan's fifth game. Though according to Sotheby's, there is photo evidence suggesting Jordan may have worn the same pair of shoes prior to his fifth game.

Sotheby's said Jordan's Nike Air Ship sneakers were designed by Bruce Kilgore and released in 1984. Jordan wore the shoe at the beginning of his career because Nike still was designing the first Air Jordan brand of sneakers.

Nike gifted Jordan several pairs of Air Ships for the beginning of his career, some of them were inscribed with the words "Air Jordan," others with "Nike Air." The pair at auction simply features the word "Air" on the back.

Somewhat famously, Jordan wore a pair of Black & Red Air Ships during an NBA preseason game on Oct. 18, 1984. However, he received a letter from the NBA informing him that the shoes violated the league's uniformity of uniform clause.

The incident was referenced in an early Nike Air Jordan commercial, when Jordan said: "The NBA threw (the shoes) out of the game. Fortunately, the NBA can't stop you from wearing them."

The previous auction record for sneakers were a pair Nike Air Jordan 1 High game-worn sneakers from 1985, which were sold by Christie's in August 2020 for $615,000. Earlier that year, a pair of autographed game-worn Air Jordan 1s from 1985 sold for a then-record-breaking $560,000.

"Since launching sneaker sales at Sotheby's in 2019, we've seen time and again the ceiling for sneakers continue to be pushed, and we are excited about all the potential ahead of us," Wachter said.

Though the Jordan Nike Air Ships were the most expensive pair of sneakers ever sold at auction, a pair of Kanye West 'Grammy Worn' Nike Air Yeezy 1 Prototypes from 2008 were sold via private sale by Sotheby's for $1.8 million.

Earlier this month, New Jersey-based Goldin Auctions announced that a 1997-98 Upper Deck-brand Jordan card, which was autographed by Jordan, sold for $2.7 million at auction, shattering the former record for a Jordan card by $600,000.