Michael Jordan's game-worn sneakers from first NBA championship, gifted to shoe mogul Sonny Vaccaro, are back on the auction block
The pair fetched more than $252,000 the first time they sold in 2020.
Jordan’s game-worn Air Jordan VIs, which were worn during Game 4 of the 1991 NBA Finals and later given to the Nike executive, are up for bid at Goldin Auctions.
Jordan scored 28 points and dished out 13 assists to lead the Bulls over the Lakers in the game, giving Chicago a 3-1 lead in the series. Jordan would clinch his first title in the next game.
After Game 5, Jordan gave the shoes to Vaccaro, who famously signed Jordan to his first contract at Nike.
Vaccaro was invited as a guest to Game 5 of the Finals, but was unable to attend. He soon received a phone call from Howard White, another Nike executive who played a crucial role in building the Air Jordan brand, telling Vaccaro that Jordan had left a package for him at the Ritz Carlton in Marina del Rey, Calif.
“Upon returning from vacation we retrieved the gift and opened it to find these sneakers,” Vaccaro writes, referencing the game-worn kicks. Each were signed by Jordan. “They have remained with me ever since,” Vaccaro said in the letter, which is dated less than a month prior to the shoes' first sale at Sotheby’s in December 2020.
Almost exactly three months later, the buyer decided to flip the sneakers at Goldin. As is often the case when buyers and consignors attempt to sell a high-profile item shortly after buying it at public auction, the sneakers fell short of the first sale, closing at $216,000.
Previously, the sneakers were accompanied only by a letter of authenticity from Sports Investors Authentication. Goldin has provided additional letters from MeiGray and Davious Sports.
Interestingly, MeiGray was only able to provide a match for the right sneaker. Jordan had jammed his toes at the end of Game 3 and “created the slit in his shoe to take pressure off his toe during Game 4,” MeiGray’s letter details. MeiGray says it appears Jordan changed his right shoe (not his left) with 6:18 left in the first quarter.
The authentication company was unable to match the left shoe conclusively due to “lack of quality media,” though includes details regarding the cut in the right sneaker as evidence of a match.
Sports Investors Authentication, which photo-matched the sneakers for the prior sales (as well as this one), did not mention any issue concerning the left sneaker.
Within hours of the auction opening Friday, Goldin received three bids on the sneakers, bringing the auction to $103,700, including buyer’s premium, and nearly 30 days remaining at auction.
Jordan sneakers from the NBA Finals are arguably the most valuable in the hobby.
One shoe from the pair worn in the clinching Game 5 in 1991 ended up as part of the “Dynasty Collection,” a set of eight sneakers — one from each NBA Finals-clinching game of Jordan’s career — which he gifted to Bulls PR executive Tim Hallam. The collection sold for a record $8.03 million, the highest price ever paid for a single lot of shoes.
His Air Jordan XIs, worn during Game 5 of the 1996 NBA Finals, were gifted to two Seattle SuperSonics ballboys (one each), who later joined together to sell the pair for $482,600 in April 2024.
Jordan’s 1998 NBA Finals “Last Dance” Air Jordan XIIIs, worn in Game 2, sold for $2.238 million in April 2023.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.