When you think about Michael Jordan, that iconic No. 23 on his back always comes to mind. It was the number he wore for much of his storied NBA career, but there were a couple of times when MJ switched it up.
Everyone remembers how he wore no. 45 after coming out of retirement for the first time, only to switch back to 23 after the Bulls lost Game 1 to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Magic would also witness the only time in his career that MJ wore the no. 12.
While Jordan chose to wear 45 as that was his number when he was off playing baseball, he was forced to wear 12, as his jersey was somehow stolen before their game against the Magic on Valentine’s day in 1990. The Bulls desperately searched for it but despite their best efforts, it was never found and so MJ had to wear 12.
via Slam:
“The team’s equipment staff scrambled to find it, with no luck; eventually, arena security was called in, and employees who might have had access to the Bulls’ gear were questioned. Nothing turned up. All the while, the clock ticked down toward tip-off.”
“As the story goes, the Chicago equipment guy found a Jordan devotee in the crowd and tried to appropriate the fan’s jersey, but it didn’t fit. That left only one option: A single backup jersey packed in the Bulls’ traveling gear. It matched the team’s road gear, the classic red with black-and-white piping on the neck and shoulders that might just be the most popular and iconic top in NBA history. Only this one was missing the 23 and the J-O-R-D-A-N across the shoulders. There was no name on this jersey. And the number was a decidedly un-iconic 12.”
Jordan was clearly not happy with what had happened and his mood only worsened after they lost to the Magic to close out a 6-game road trip with a 1-5 record. He had a pretty good game though, scoring 49 points while hauling in 7 rebounds, but the Magic still came away with a 135-129 win in overtime. His jersey was never stolen after this incident and you better believe the equipment staff made sure it was never out of their sight after this.
Michael Jordan Jerseys Are Quite Valuable
When the player is as great as MJ, it should come as no surprise that his jerseys would be quite valuable, which is why it was stolen back then. In fact, anything related to MJ would be of great value, as even a ticket stub from his NBA debut was listed for $300,000!
If a ticket went up for that much, you can imagine how much a jersey would be worth. His jersey from Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Finals would actually set the record for the highest price paid for a sports memorabilia item, at $10.1 million. To put that number into some context, the jersey that LeBron James wore in the first half of Game 7 of the NBA Finals, went for $3.7 million earlier this year.
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