Picture a sweaty piece of red mesh from one night in June 1998 now holding the title of most expensive basketball collectible ever sold. The Michael Jordan Game 2 jersey sold for $14 million, according to a press release from Hunt Auctions on PR Newswire.
The Pennsylvania auction house says it was a private treaty sale, meaning no public bidding and no gavel. Hunt announced it Monday, and ESPN and other outlets picked up the news the same day.
What the Michael Jordan Game 2 jersey actually is
This is the red Bulls road jersey Jordan wore on June 5, 1998. Chicago beat the Utah Jazz 93-88 that night, and Jordan scored 37 points. It was the Bulls’ first win of that Finals after a shocking Game 1 loss.
Two details set it apart from the other jerseys from that series. It is photomatched, which means authenticators lined up its wear marks with game photos. And Jordan signed it. According to the release, MeiGray and SIA Authentication matched it to Game 2, and Upper Deck authenticated the signing.
The paper trail is short, too. A collector bought it straight from the Bulls, and it has changed hands just once since.
That clean chain of custody matters a lot when buyers write eight-figure checks for a Jordan Game 2 road jersey.
Where this record Jordan jersey sale ranks
It is a record for any basketball memorabilia. Among game-worn jerseys in any sport, only Babe Ruth’s 1932 “called shot” jersey has sold for more. It went for $24.12 million in 2024, UPI reports.
The Jordan 1998 Finals jersey also tops the Game 3 jersey, a white home version that sold for $12.26 million on September 29. That price included $2.26 million in buyer’s fees, per Sports Collectors Daily. The Game 1 red jersey brought about $10.1 million at Sotheby’s in 2022.
So three jerseys from one Finals series have now cleared eight figures. Nobody said the Last Dance was cheap.
Basketball money is flowing elsewhere, too, as the reported $12.5 billion Lakers sale shows.
Here’s the thing: the record comes with an asterisk
This is a private sale, and the price, buyer and terms come only from Hunt and the buyer. Nobody independent has confirmed them. The Game 3 jersey’s $12.26 million remains the top price at a public auction. In other words, the Michael Jordan Game 2 jersey is the priciest by the numbers on offer, but not by public bidding.
The buyer is collector Ron Firman, who told Hunt he is “very excited about the purchase.” Sports Collectors Daily reports he also owns a $12.6 million Mickey Mantle card. Hunt says Firman grew up in Rye, New York, while Fox News and Yahoo describe him as a Miami real estate investor. Both can be true.
Hunt’s president, David Hunt, says Jordan memorabilia has become an asset class once reserved for fine art. That is a sales pitch from the people who took a cut, so treat it as opinion.
The numbers do point one way, though. Three jerseys, one series, and more than $36 million in combined value.
What comes next
The next prize is the Game 6 jersey. Jordan wore a red one in that clincher, when he hit his famous last shot as a Bull, and the release calls it the other “holy grail.” Only one red Finals jersey has ever sold at public auction, and no sale of the Game 6 piece has turned up. If it ever surfaces, the record Jordan jersey sale will not stay at $14 million for long.
For now, Hunt is already taking consignments for its Super Bowl LXI auction on February 13, 2027 in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, fans can turn to the NBA Christmas Day schedule for more basketball.
The question now is who has the Game 6 jersey, and what are they thinking right about now?
