A red Chicago Bulls jersey worn and autographed by Michael Jordan during the 1998 NBA Finals has sold for $14 million in a private transaction, establishing an all-time record for basketball memorabilia, Pennsylvania-based Hunt Auctions announced Monday.
The auction house identified the buyer as Ron Firman, a real estate investor based in Miami. According to Hunt Auctions, the jersey had changed ownership only once before, when it was acquired from the original purchaser in 2003.
Firman expressed excitement over acquiring the historic piece. “Michael Jordan was an incredibly talented player who is admired around the world,” Firman said in a statement released by the auction house. “I’m very excited about the purchase.”
Historic Game and Championship Run
Jordan wore the road uniform on June 5, 1998, during Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City. Jordan poured in 37 points, five rebounds and three assists to guide Chicago to a 99-83 victory, evening the series at one game apiece.
The Bulls went on to capture the series in six games, securing their sixth NBA title of the decade and completing their second three-peat after earlier consecutive championships from 1991 to 1993. Jordan captured Finals MVP honors during all six championship runs, finishing the 1998 series with an average of 33.5 points per contest.
That postseason marked the climax of Jordan’s celebrated “Last Dance” campaign with Chicago, ending with his iconic series-clinching jumper before his second NBA retirement. He later returned to play two seasons for the Washington Wizards from 2001 to 2003.
Surging Memorabilia Market
The $14 million transaction marks the third time a Jordan uniform from that championship series has surpassed the eight-figure mark. A Game 1 jersey sold for $10.1 million in 2022. Previous reports showed slight differences on the price of his Game 3 jersey, with ClutchPoints citing a $12.3 million sale and NBC Sports reporting a figure of $12.5 million.
David Hunt, president of Hunt Auctions, described Jordan’s standing in the collectibles market as reaching rare territory.
“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,” Hunt said. “We are very pleased to have been able to facilitate this historic sale, which serves as another benchmark for our industry.”
Hunt added that across 36 years in the market, Jordan and baseball legend Babe Ruth “stand above all others in the history of American sports.”
Despite establishing a basketball record, the sale ranks as the second-highest sum paid for a game-worn sports jersey. That peak belongs to a New York Yankees jersey worn by Ruth during the 1932 World Series for his purported “called shot” home run, which commanded $24.12 million in 2024, according to the Associated Press.
It remains unannounced whether Firman intends to exhibit the uniform publicly or retain it in a private collection, and it is still unknown if other signature garments from Jordan’s final Chicago title run will come up for future sale.
