Heritage Auctions sold the only known game-worn Jordan jersey from his time at the University of North Carolina for a cool $1.38 million.
via: Bleacher Report
Darren Rovell of the Action Network provided details of the Heritage Auctions sale:
$1.38 million: Price paid tonight at @HeritageAuction for a Michael Jordan jersey worn by MJ from the 1982-83 season at UNC pic.twitter.com/CwResj9WLE
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) May 8, 2021
Jordan, who’d already helped lead UNC to a national title in the 1982 NCAA tournament, averaged 20 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 53.5 percent from the field in 1982-83. It marked his second of three seasons with the Tar Heels before his Hall of Fame pro career.
“I wonder sometimes myself if it isn’t all a dream. I expect to wake up sometime,” MJ said during his emergence as a superstar at North Carolina.
While he’s now generally accepted either as the greatest basketball player in history or at least a significant part of the GOAT conversation, that level of dominance wasn’t easily predicted out of college.
Jordan wasn’t selected until No. 3 overall in the 1984 NBA draft. Hakeem Olajuwon and Sam Bowie were picked before him, with Charles Barkley and John Stockton among the other members of that year’s star-studded draft class.
Jordan went on to win six NBA championship and earn the MVP award five times along with numerous other accolades during his 15-year career.
His lasting impact on the sport combined with the sports memorabilia boom over the past year has caused a lot of Jordan items to skyrocket in value, and the game-used UNC jersey is just another example.
Here’s to hoping the North Carolina equipment manager who traded the Jordan jersey to someone at Stanford got a cut of this.
