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Michael Jordan 1998 'Last Dance' Finals Jersey Sells for Record $12.26 Million

Michael Jordan's game-worn jersey from Game 3 of the 1998 NBA Finals sold for $12.26 million at Joopiter auction house. The sale sets a new record for Jordan memorabilia, surpassing the $10.091 million previously paid for his Game 1 jersey from the same series.

By Alex RiveraPublished / 2 min read
NBA

Reporting note: this article draws on gmanetwork.com; TaxiSports provides the summary and editorial framing.

Michael Jordan 1998 'Last Dance' Finals Jersey Sells for Record

Record-Breaking Auction for 1998 Finals Jersey

A game-worn Chicago Bulls jersey worn by Michael Jordan during Game 3 of the 1998 NBA Finals sold for $12.26 million on Tuesday. The sale establishes a new high-water mark for any piece of Jordan sports memorabilia sold at auction, surpassing the previous record set by another artifact from the same championship series.

Consigned by entrepreneur Rob Gough, the iconic red jersey was offered through Joopiter, the digital auction house founded by Pharrell Williams. The final hammer price landed comfortably within the auction house's pre-sale estimate of $10 million to $15 million, reflecting sustained collector demand for prime artifacts from Chicago's final championship run.

Surpassing Previous Jordan Records

The $12.26 million transaction edges past the prior Jordan benchmark: the game-worn jersey from Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Finals, which commanded $10.091 million at auction. Both pieces originate from Jordan's sixth and final title run with the Bulls—the culmination of the celebrated "Last Dance" season that cemented Chicago's 1990s dynasty.

In its official listing, Joopiter emphasized the historical weight of the artifact, describing it as the pinnacle of an era that accelerated basketball's growth into a global cultural phenomenon.

Where the Sale Ranks in Sports Memorabilia History

While the Game 3 jersey now stands as the most expensive Jordan item in auction history, it trails the all-time record for game-worn sports memorabilia. That benchmark remains held by Babe Ruth's 1932 World Series "called shot" jersey, which fetched $24.12 million in 2024.

Even so, the eight-figure benchmark achieved by the 1998 Bulls jersey reinforces the distinct tier Jordan occupies in the modern collectibles market, where authenticated game-worn gear from definitive championship moments continues to draw historic valuations.

# NBA# 1998 NBA Finals# Joopiter auction# Last Dance jersey auction# Michael Jordan jersey# nba# sports memorabilia record

Alex Rivera

NBA Correspondent

Alex Rivera covers the NBA as one might map the slow decay of a factory floor. He reads the league in the scuff marks that scar the paint, in the tired groan of a floorboard that has absorbed too many fourth-quarter landings, and in the rusted-iron shriek of a defensive rotation buckling under a season’s weight. Where others see athletic spectacle, Rivera documents the tactile erosion of the arena itself—the sticky residue of spilled sports drink under a baseline seat, the dust that swirls in the rafters long after the crowd has dissolved. His gaze then drifts from the stars to the custodial staff, those anonymous figures who push wide brooms through the tunnels when the lights dim, whose own exhaustion mirrors the game’s final, breathless overtime. In his prose, a pick-and-roll becomes an old engine seizing, and a fast break a piston misfiring, sentences stretching across multiple clauses until they, too, sag with fatigue. Each piece leaves the reader not with a highlight, but with the texture of aftermath. And always, always, a Rivera analysis closes on the starting point guard’s sneakers—their scuffed toe caps, the particular shade of rubber worn pale by forty-eight minutes of hardwood conversation, a color that names the night’s true toll.

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