Most expensive sneakers ever sell in New York
A pair of Air Jordan XIII shoes from 1998 has become the most expensive pair of sneakers ever sold after a buyer paid $2.2 million for them in an auction run by Sotheby’s in New York on April 11.
Authentication specialist MeiGray Group, an official National Basketball Association (NBA) partner, confirmed that the shoes were the ones Michael Jordan wore in game two of the NBA finals in 1998. He wore them in the second half of the game, playing for Chicago Bulls against Utah Jazz; he scored 37 points in the game, helping his team tie the series 1-1. Chicago Bulls went on to win the series 4-2.
Sotheby’s said Michael Jordan had given the shoes as a gift to a ball boy after game two in Salt Lake City, after putting his autograph on both toe-boxes. It said the shoes were in “immaculate condition”.
MeiGray has said this is the only pair of authenticated shoes that Michael Jordan wore in an NBA finals game to have come up for auction. Sotheby’s confirmed after the sale that $2.2 million was a new world record and that these were “the most valuable sneakers ever sold”.
