Michael Jordan’s 1998 NBA Finals Game 3 jersey going to auction with record-setting potential

The jersey worn by Michael Jordan in Game 3 of the 1998 NBA Finals, when he would go on to win his sixth and final championship during “The Last Dance” season for the 1990s Chicago Bulls dynasty, will be sold through auction house Joopiter this fall. One of the most significant pieces of Jordan memorabilia to surface publicly, the jersey could set sales records as the collectibles market continues to climb to new heights.

With the series tied following a pair of road games against John Stockton, Karl Malone and the Utah Jazz, the Bulls returned home and delivered a 96-54 rout, taking a 2-1 series lead. Jordan scored a game-high 24 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Chicago would go on to win Game 4 and Game 6 to secure the dynasty’s second three-peat and sixth title in eight years.

“’The Last Dance’ represents really one of the defining chapters in the history of all sports, not just basketball,” Caitlin Donovan, Joopiter’s global head of sales, told The Athletic. “It’s really more than just the conclusion of (Jordan’s) career with the Bulls, it really marked the culmination of one of the greatest dynasties that I feel was ever assembled.”

Bidding for the jersey, which has been photo-matched to Game 3 by third-party authenticator MeiGray, opens on Sept. 15. Should the jersey reach its pre-sale estimate, it would challenge the record for a basketball jersey sold at public auction. The current high is the $10.1 million paid in 2022 for Jordan’s “Last Dance” jersey from Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Finals. That was the most expensive piece of game-worn memorabilia of any kind before Babe Ruth’s 1932 World Series “called shot” jersey sold for $24.12 million in 2024. Jordan’s ’98 Finals Game 3 jersey could challenge that record, though. Both the game-used memorabilia and Jordan collectibles markets have arguably never been hotter, as wealthy investors pour into the sports collectibles world.

Jordan remains the most searched athlete across all sports on eBay each month, consistently beating out the top stars of the current era. According to GemRate, which tracks trading card grading and sales data, nearly $19.4 million was spent on Jordan cards on eBay alone in July, the most spent on any single athlete in a month so far this year.

“Well (Jordan’s Game 3 jersey) encompasses all of the key components of why the sports memorabilia hobby has become an asset class,” MeiGray founder Barry Meisel told The Athletic. “You have the greatest player of all time, you have the ‘Last Dance’ and his final championship. Within the context of NBA collectors … you have all the elements of a relic that stands among the greatest of all time.”

Game-used Jordan jerseys remain incredibly scarce compared to game-worn pieces that reach public auction from today’s stars. Current NBA players wear jerseys in multiple games far less often than previous generations, and will often wear multiple jerseys in a single game as collectibility and revenue generation become bigger concerns for teams and leagues.

“Jordan remains a very, very, very rare relic, certainly in comparison to the GOATs of today — the LeBrons, the Stephen Currys, because it was a different era,” Meisel said. “There were no game-worn jersey programs. Teams weren’t putting a jersey on a player’s back every game or every couple of games.”

Jordan’s Game 3 jersey also represents a key consignment for Joopiter, which was founded by musician Pharrell Williams in 2022. Joopiter has previously sold key Jordan pieces, including a signed Michael Jordan rookie card for $2.5 million as well as signed and game-worn Air Jordans.

“It would be deeply significant for any auction house — I do acknowledge the fact that we are quite green in our long trajectory compared to some of the other houses,” Donovan said. “I think that Joopiter being able to offer this item says we understand the collectibles market and we are putting storytelling first. I think our storytelling-first approach and our understanding of current culture has led us to these exceptional items.”

Joopiter will support the auction with two live events in September. Jordan’s jersey will be on display at the Free Parking gallery in New York City from Sept. 15-20 and at Canon Collectibles in Los Angeles from Sept. 21-26.

“I think with an object at this level of importance, emotion is key,” Donovan said. “We want this to appeal to the potential buyer at a great level, at a record-breaking price … but I also think it’s important to Joopiter that a lot of the storytelling around sports goes to the fans and to the people that not only love Michael Jordan, love the Bulls, love ‘The Last Dance,’ but kind of know where they were in that time.

“Oftentimes the moment had a pretty exceptional impact on their lives, so opening it up to the public for us was really important for this object.”

The Athletic maintains full editorial independence in all our coverage. When you click or make purchases through our links, we may earn a commission.