Sports memorabilia is highly valued today, with many things such as basketball cards becoming expensive collector items. Naturally, items related to top-tier players are worth more on the market.
Jessica Golden of CNBC reported that a pair of Michael Jordan’s first rookie sneakers has been put on auction by Sotheby’s and were estimated to sell for a price of at least $1 million. There is no question that Michael Jordan’s collectibles are extremely valuable. Golden’s article reveals that Brahm Wachter, head of Sotheby’s streetwear and modern collectibles classified Jordan-related memorabilia as “the most coveted”.
A piece of rare sneaker history is hitting the marketplace, and it’s expected to be the most valuable sneakers ever offered at auction.
On Friday, Sotheby’s will open advanced bidding to auction off Michael Jordan’s first pair of sneakers worn as a pro, the red and white Nike Air Ships. The sneakers are the earliest regular season pair of Jordans to come to the market.
Sotheby’s estimated the sneakers will sell for $1 million to $1.5 million, marking the highest estimate for a pair of sneakers ever sold at auction.
“Michael Jordan’s items are perhaps the most coveted. We put up a lot of other valuable memorabilia items, but I would say on a kind of ongoing and continuous basis Michael Jordan’s market is really strong,” Brahm Wachter, head of Sotheby’s streetwear and modern collectables, told CNBC in an interview this week.
The current record for a pair of sneakers sold at auction is $615,000, which was by Christies in August 2020 for a pair of Nike Air Jordan 1 High game-worn sneakers from 1985.
If these Jordan sneakers do end up selling for $1 million or more, they’d break the sale record for auctioned-off sneakers, which is $615,000 as stated in the article. That would not be the first Jordan item to sell for a record amount, and earlier in 2021, Michael Jordan’s game-worn jersey from UNC sold for a record $1.38 million.
There’s no question that there is an appeal in owning apparel that used to be worn by the GOAT of basketball. Michael Jordan is an iconic athlete, and we already know that people love scooping up Jordan’s already. It’s only natural that Michael Jordan’s first pair of worn sneakers in the league would go for a lot, and it is definitely a very unique item for anyone to add to their collection of sports memorabilia.
