Michael Jordan's Rookie Year Sneakers Sold at Auction

While the Chicago sports world in 1984 was enamored with excitement stemming from the Cubs first playoff appearance in 39 years and the emergence of a football team that would dominate their division for the rest of the decade, a young phenom named Michael Jordan was getting his feet wet on the basketball court.

The emergence of Jordan and the Bulls’ dominance coincided with the birth of Air Jordans, the popular sneaker brand born the same year. But before the new brand of shoes were ready, Jordan wore a variety of Air Ships.

One of those Nike pairs among the first he ever war as a professional basketball player sold for $71,553 at an auction recently - ESPN reports. It was the second most ever paid for a pair of Jordan’s shoes. Two years ago, the shoes he wore in the famous “Flu” Game during the 1997 NBA Finals in Utah went for $104,769.

While the buyer of the pair auctioned by SCP Auctions will remain anonymous, the story of how the pair got to auction turns out to be quite interesting.

Stashed away in a closet for years, the shoes were finally consigned to the auction house by Khalid Ali, who was a ball boy for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 1984-85 season, Jordan’s rookie year. The Bulls played at Los Angeles on December 2, 1984.

From ESPN:

“Ali originally asked Jordan for the shoes that were on his feet during warm-ups that night at the Great Western Forum -- red, black and white Air Jordans. Jordan, Ali said, switched into the Air Ships for the game, signed those and gave that pair to him instead.”

In the game, according the BasketballReference.com, the Bulls pulled off a 113-112 upset over the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers, who were led by Hall of Famers Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy that year. The Bulls wound up going 39-43, earning the seventh seed in the eastern conference playoffs and losing to the Milwaukee Bucks, 3-1 in round one.

Ali told ESPN.com before the auction that he didn’t spend much time looking at or showing the shoes, which stayed in his mother’s closet.

The left shoe is size 13 and the right shoe is 13½, as Jordan traditionally wore early in his career.

While interest in the shoes he wore on the court hasn’t dwindled, the basketball star is having less luck unloading a basketball-centric mansion he has owned in Highland Park for more than 20 years.

READ MORE: Michael Jordan’s Mansion in Highland Park is Still for Sale

First listed years ago at $29 million, the giant with an NBA regulation basketball court, doors from the original Playboy Mansion and front gates bearing “23,” has since dropped its asking value to $16 million.

more via ESPN