Michael Jordan 1998 Finals Jersey Sells for $14M

Michael Jordan's red Bulls jersey from Game 2 of the 1998 NBA Finals just sold for $14 million. Hunt Auctions announced the private sale Monday and called it the highest price ever paid for a piece of basketball memorabilia, per the AP.

That is a new ceiling for the Last Dance market, and it keeps climbing fast. Anything tied to Jordan's final run in Chicago is moving like blue-chip art right now. A Jordan home jersey from Game 3 of the same series went for about $12.3 million at auction just last month, and this one blew past it two weeks later.

The game behind the jersey

Jordan wore this game-worn, autographed road jersey on June 5, 1998, in Salt Lake City, when the Bulls beat the Utah Jazz 93-88 to even the series at a game apiece. He scored 37 points that night, per Hunt Auctions, second in that series only to his 45-point closeout in Game 6.

Chicago won the series in six for Jordan's sixth and final title, the season that "The Last Dance" documentary made famous all over again in 2020. Hunt says the jersey was photomatched to Game 2 by MeiGray Authentication and SIA Authentication, and the autograph was authenticated by Upper Deck.

Who bought it

The buyer is Miami real estate investor Ron Firman, per the AP. "Michael Jordan was an incredibly talented player who is admired around the world," Firman said in the auction house's release. "I'm very excited about the purchase."

The provenance is tight. A private collector bought the jersey directly from the Bulls in 2003, and it has changed hands only once since, per Hunt. "While Michael Jordan's importance within the sports memorabilia marketplace has long been established it has now escalated to an elite asset class more typically reserved for iconic works of art," company president David Hunt said.

Where it ranks

Only one game-worn jersey has ever sold for more: Babe Ruth's "called shot" Yankees jersey from the 1932 World Series, which brought $24.12 million in 2024, per the AP. This is also at least the third Jordan jersey from the 1998 Finals to clear $10 million, after the Game 1 jersey went for about $10.1 million in 2022.

Add it up and three shirts from one six-game series have now sold for more than $36 million combined. Somewhere a Game 6 jersey owner is watching this very closely, and if that one ever hits the block, $14 million might look cheap.