Everything Michael Jordan touches, or in this case touches him, turns to gold these days in the collectibles world. This summer has seen a run of Jordan worn memorabilia fetch record setting sums at auction.
A few months prior, a pair of game worn Air Jordan’s, which MJ donned during the infamous “Flu Game” fetched north of $1M at auction. Now, another piece of memorabilia from that infamous night in Utah has set a new record in the collectibles world as well.
Last week a red armband worn by “His Airness” sold for $28,800 through Heritage Auctions, setting a new high water mark for sports wristbands on the secondary market.
As the story goes, prior to Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz, Jordan became violently ill, casting his availability into doubt. With the series tied up at 2 games apiece, it was a pivotal moment in the series, and a game the Bulls couldn’t afford to give away.
Jordan would ultimately suit up, and drop 38 points, grab 7 rebounds, and dish out 5 assists in 44 minutes of playing time, earning a 90-88 win and further cementing his legacy as the greatest player of his generation.
In recent years, thanks in large part to “The Last Dance” documentary, whether it was the flu, food poisoning, a hangover or all of the above has been up for debate. But that makes little difference in the collector’s community as it would become one of MJ’s signature games over his storied career.
Game used wristbands is a fairly niche market, with few other examples readily available for comparison. However, Heritage Auctions believes it could be the highest grossing sale of any wristband ever sold at auction.
Photo: Bryan Horowitz. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.