CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 7: Michael Jordan #23 of the Chicago Bulls looks on against the Utah Jazz during Game Three of the 1998 NBA Finals on June 7, 1998 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Andy Hayt/NBAE via Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 7: Michael Jordan #23 of the Chicago Bulls looks on against the Utah Jazz during Game Three of the 1998 NBA Finals on June 7, 1998 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Andy Hayt/NBAE via Getty Images)
A Michael Jordan game-worn jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals (Game 3) was put on display tonight as part of a showcase on 16 Morton Street in New York City. David Gough, an actor and memorabilia collector, consigned this iconic jersey to Joopiter, Pharrell’s digital-first platform, for auction.
Michael Jordan wore this jersey in Game 3 of the 1998 NBA Finals, where he scored 24 points, grabbed three rebounds, and added two assists while shooting 7-for-14 from the field (50.0 FG%).
The Chicago Bulls won 96-54 against the Utah Jazz, a 42-point blowout and the largest scoring deficit ever in the NBA Finals. The Jazz’s 54 points were also the lowest total ever recorded in an NBA playoff game.
According to Benjamin Burrows of The Athletic, the bidding went live at 10 AM ET on September 15. Within one day, they have already received a $10 million bid ($12 million if you include Joopiter’s premium) for the jersey. So they expect that this jersey could likely surpass the previous record held by Michal Jordan’s Game 1 jersey from the same series ($10.1 million sale).
“Among the most important pieces of Jordan memorabilia to surface publicly, the jersey has a pre-sale estimate between $10-$15 million. A $10 million bid (more than $12 million, including Joopiter’s buyer’s premium) on Tuesday has ensured the Jordan shirt will top the public record of $10.1 million for a basketball jersey when the auction closes on September 29,” Burrows reported.
Burrows also spoke with Gough, the jersey’s original owner, and got his take on why he values it so much and what led him to sell it.
“For me, it has to be a winner,” David Gough said of the jersey. “And I love things that change the momentum of something. That, to me, was so important. This jersey was from the most important game and was the most important jersey to own.”
“It’s been a privilege to steward (the jersey). Once you own it for so long, sometimes it’s nice to pass it on to the next door,” Gough said. “Obviously it’s a tough decision to do that, but I think it’s nice for somebody else to be able to appreciate it and enjoy it.”
“My relationship with sports is kind of evolving,” Gough added. “I just bought the World Jai Alai League, and it’s kind of switching from owning sports history to building sports history.”
The jersey is expected to be on display over the next four days in New York (until Sunday, September 20) before it moves to Los Angeles for a display at Canon Collectibles from September 23 to 26. The final price of the jersey will be revealed after September 29.
This means two of the four game-worn jerseys in Michael Jordan’s final championship series are now owned by millionaires who collectively spent over $20 million on them.
Meanwhile, the Game 4 and Game 6 jerseys, which are the remaining game-worn jerseys from the NBA Finals matchups where the Bulls won, have never surfaced in public.
When the news about this Game 3 jersey first broke, predictions said it could surpass $100 million. So it will be fascinating to see whether those two jerseys ever surface and how much they command in the market if they are auctioned.