Updated posts 2026
In a testament to the enduring legacy of basketball icon Michael Jordan, a collection of sneakers he wore during the Chicago Bulls’ six NBA championship victories has set a record at auction, fetching $8 million. Sotheby’s announced the result, marking a new high in game-worn sneaker sales.
Named the “Dynasty Collection” by Sotheby’s, the ensemble consists of six Air Jordan shoes, each from one of the Bulls’ championship seasons in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, and 1998.
Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of modern collectibles, described the collection’s significance as a record of Jordan’s impact on sport and a physical connection to each of the six titles.
The auction saw active bidding for the artifacts. The buyer’s identity remains undisclosed, while the seller is described as a private American collector who obtained the sneakers from a longtime Bulls executive.
According to Sotheby’s, the practice of presenting sneakers to the executive began in 1991 after the team’s first championship and continued after subsequent victories. The lot included photographs of Jordan wearing a single shoe while celebrating the Bulls’ triumphs in 1992, 1993, 1996, and 1998.
Those photographs are doing more work than they appear to. Provenance is the entire basis of value in game-worn memorabilia, and a market this lucrative attracts fabrication — several high-profile items have been exposed as misattributed or outright fake in recent years. Photographic evidence placing a specific shoe on a specific foot on a specific night, combined with an unbroken chain of ownership back to the team, is what separates an eight-figure lot from an unverifiable pair of old trainers. Auction houses now build their catalogues around that documentation for precisely this reason.
Michael Jordan’s career brought him five league MVP titles and two Olympic gold medals. His achievements led then-NBA Commissioner David Stern to call him “the benchmark for basketball excellence,” and the league renamed its MVP trophy in his honour in 2022.
Beyond his performance on court, Jordan reshaped the athletic shoe industry and helped create sneaker culture through his partnership with Nike in the mid-1980s. That collaboration produced the Air Jordan line.
Jordan’s footwear has consistently commanded high prices at auction. In April of the previous year, a pair worn during the 1998 NBA Finals sold for $2.2 million through Sotheby’s, then a record for sneakers. His jersey from the first game of that series reached $10.1 million at auction in 2022.
Even peripheral items carry value. In 2022, an unused ticket from Jordan’s debut game with the Bulls in 1984 sold for $468,000.
The sale of the Dynasty Collection reflects both Jordan’s cultural standing and the scale the sports memorabilia market has reached. As these items change hands, they continue to represent the legacy of one of basketball’s defining figures.
