Michael Jordan is still breaking records for the Chicago Bulls nearly three decades after his final championship in Chicago.
The jersey Jordan wore during Game 3 of the 1998 NBA Finals sold for $12.26 million through JOOPITER on September 29, making it the most expensive game-worn NBA jersey ever sold at auction.
In doing so, Jordan broke his own record. His red jersey from Game 1 of those same Finals sold for $10.091 million through Sotheby’s in 2022.
But the particular game attached to the latest record gives the jersey another layer of Bulls history.
Michael Jordan Jersey Comes From Historic Bulls Blowout
Jordan wore the white No. 23 jersey on June 7, 1998, when Chicago dismantled the Utah Jazz 96-54 at the United Center.
The 42-point victory remains the largest margin in an NBA Finals game. Utah’s 54 points were also a Finals-low at the time, with the Bulls holding the Jazz to 30% shooting while taking a 2-1 lead in the series.
Jordan led all scorers with 24 points despite playing just over 32 minutes.
Chicago ultimately won the series in six games, completing its second three-peat and giving Jordan his sixth NBA championship and sixth Finals MVP award.
The season became known as “The Last Dance,” making memorabilia from that Finals especially coveted.
JOOPITER said the jersey is the only publicly known white Jordan jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals to have surfaced. It also carries the distinctive 1998 NBA Finals patch.
Jordan Breaks His Own $10.1 Million Record
The new sale topped a record Jordan himself established four years earlier.
Sotheby’s sold Jordan’s red Game 1 jersey from the 1998 Finals for $10.091 million in September 2022 after receiving 20 bids. Jordan scored 33 points in that game, an 88-85 overtime loss to Utah.
This time, the bidding apparently looked very different.
Sports Collectors Daily reported that the Game 3 jersey closed with a $10 million hammer price and $2.26 million in buyer’s fees after an irrevocable bid was entered. No competing bid ultimately topped it.
An irrevocable bid essentially guarantees that an item will sell at a predetermined amount unless another bidder exceeds it.
Heavy previously reported that the jersey had already positioned itself to challenge the NBA record before the auction closed, with JOOPITER placing its presale estimate between $10 million and $15 million.
The final number landed squarely in that range.
Michael Jordan’s ‘Last Dance’ Keeps Producing Historic Sales
Jordan’s $12.26 million jersey is now the benchmark for NBA game-worn jerseys, although it remains well short of the overall sports jersey record.
Babe Ruth’s jersey associated with the 1932 World Series and his famed “called shot” sold for $24.12 million in 2024.
For basketball collectors, though, Jordan continues to occupy his own territory.
His two 1998 Finals jerseys now account for both eight-figure NBA jersey sales — and the more expensive one comes from the night the Bulls authored the biggest Finals blowout the league has ever seen.
Bulls Legend Michael Jordan Shatters Own Record With $12.26 Million Jersey Sale