One of the most famous pairs of basketball shoes on the planet just sold for seven figures at auction Wednesday.
A pair of Jordan 12’s, worn by “His Airness” himself during the infamous Flu Game in the 1997 NBA Finals sold for a staggering $1.38M including buyer’s premium at Goldin Auctions. A price made all the more impressive given the fact that only 10 years earlier, the same pair of shoes sold for $104,765 at auction, earning the seller a 1,200% return on their investment.
“To me, the ‘Flu Game’ is the most iconic game of Michael Jordan‘s career, and that’s what everyone refers to when they talk about toughing it out and rising to the occasion under difficult circumstances,” said Ken Goldin, owner of Goldin Auctions. “To me, these are the most important and most valuable pair of sneakers that will ever be sold.”
During game 5 of the NBA Finals, Michael Jordan scored 38pts while pulling down 7 rebounds and dishing out 5 assists in over 44 minutes of court time. The Bulls would win the game 90-88 and eventually the series in six games, giving them their 5th championship in 7 seasons.
While the shoes are amongst the most expensive ever sold at auction, they fell short of becoming even the most expensive pair of Jordan’s sold. That honour instead goes to a pair of Air Jordan XIII Breds which MJ wore in the 2nd half of Game 2 of the NBA Finals, commonly referred to as “The Last Dance”.
That particular pair recently sold for $2.238M at an auction brokered by Sotheby’s in April. Prior to that, a pair of Jordan Air Ships worn during his rookie season sold for $1.472M at auction (also with Sotheby’s) in 2021.
Nevertheless, the iconic shoes take their rightful place on the pantheon of sports collectibles with their $1M+ price tag. And if they continue to appreciate in value like they have over the last decade, the Flu Game shoes could continue to rewrite the record books in the future as well.
Photo: Steve Lipofsky. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.