When “The Last Dance” documentary premiered to begin 2020, the sneaker world wasn’t ready for the effect it would have on secondary market prices and overall demand for Air Jordan sneakers. The title of the ESPN-produced documentary is a nod to Michael Jordan’s final season with the Chicago Bulls in 1998 which featured MJ and his squad take on the rival Utah Jazz in what has become one of the most memorable NBA Finals of all time. During the doc, you can spot MJ rocking a pair of the Air Jordan 13s in the iconic “Bred” colorway during Game 2 against the Jazz in Utah that hit the auction block via Sotheby's.
As of late, the legacy auction house has hosted a wide range of sneaker-related auctions including a collection of sneakers worn by MJ in every NBA Final’s clinching game, though this had forgone any inclusion of the AJ 13. Following this, the sneaker in which MJ scored 37 points in the 93-88 victory against the Jazz became available to the public with a signature by MJ present on the toebox in silver. With MJ rocking a fresh pair of sneakers each game, the signs of wear are semi-minimal with some creasing present on the midfoot and toebox, however, the condition is near perfect considering the played the entire second half of the game in the pair.
The Sotheby’s auction for MJ’s game-worn and signed Air Jordan 13 “Bred” from Game 2 of the 1998 NBA Finals took place between April 3rd and April 11th, 2023 through sothebys.com. Initial estimates had the pair selling between 2 million and 4 million USD with the final price paid shattering the previous record ($1.8 million, held by the Nike Air Yeezy 1 "Grammy" prototype) for the most valuable shoe sold at auction ($2.2 million).
Though this was out of reach for 99% of sneakerheads, it's still exciting to see a piece of sneaker history be valued so highly. Keep it locked to our Twitter and the Sole Retriever mobile app to stay updated on the latest releases, raffles, news, and more in the sneaker and streetwear world.
Images via Sotheby's
