Michael Jordan’s jersey from Game 3 of the 1998 NBA Finals sold for $12.26 million on Tuesday, setting an auction record for an NBA game-worn jersey and becoming the most expensive piece of Jordan memorabilia ever sold.
The white No. 23 Chicago Bulls jersey, worn during the team’s 96-54 demolition of the Utah Jazz on June 7, 1998, was sold through JOOPITER, the digital auction platform founded by Pharrell Williams. The buyer was not publicly identified.
The sale surpassed the previous Jordan memorabilia record of $10.091 million, set in 2022 when Sotheby’s sold the red road jersey Jordan wore during Game 1 of the same NBA Finals.
The latest record-setting jersey came from Jordan’s sixth and final championship season with Chicago, a campaign later immortalized as “The Last Dance.” The Bulls went on to defeat the Jazz 4-2 in the Finals, giving Jordan his sixth NBA championship and sixth Finals MVP award.
Game 3 was a defining night in that championship run. With the Finals tied 1-1, Chicago returned home and produced one of the most lopsided victories in Finals history. Jordan scored 24 points, grabbed three rebounds and added two assists, a steal and a block as the Bulls took a 2-1 series lead.
Utah’s 54 points remain the fewest scored by a team in an NBA Finals game, while the 42-point margin remains the largest in Finals history.
The jersey entered the JOOPITER auction with an estimate of $10 million to $15 million. The auction closed with a $10 million hammer price and a final total of $12.26 million after the buyer’s premium. The sale received a single binding bid, according to Sports Collectors Daily.
Its rarity was a major part of its appeal. JOOPITER described it as the only publicly known white Jordan jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals to have surfaced, while the jersey also carries the Finals logo patch and NBA Authentics and size-50 tags.
The piece also came with extensive authentication and provenance. MeiGray authenticated the jersey in 2015 and photo-matched it to images from the game. Its documented ownership history included Chicago collector Bill Thoma, who provided a 2015 letter of provenance, before the jersey was acquired by entrepreneur and collector Rob Gough in 2023.
JOOPITER said the jersey represented the closing chapter of the Bulls dynasty, which won six championships in eight seasons during Jordan’s tenure. The 1997-98 season marked Jordan’s final campaign in Chicago before his second retirement, although he later returned to the NBA with the Washington Wizards.
The $12.26 million sale also places Jordan’s jersey among the most valuable game-worn sports artifacts ever sold, although it remains well short of the overall record.
That mark belongs to Babe Ruth’s New York Yankees jersey from the 1932 World Series, associated with his famous “called shot.” It sold for $24.12 million in 2024.
