While Netflix takes us back to the great season of the Chicago Bulls alongside Michael Jordan, the autographed and worn Nike Air Jordans from 1985 by the living legend of world basketball were auctioned off at a stellar price at a Sotheby’s online auction: 560 thousand dollars. This sets a new absolute record for this type of footwear: the Nike shoes used by Michael Jordan in his first NBA season with the Chicago Bulls have surpassed the 1972 Nike Waffle Racing Flat Moon Shoe, which were sold for 437,500 dollars in July 2019 but had never been used.
(Photo by Focus on Sport via Getty Images)Focus On Sport
Jordan’s sneakers were at the center of a heated bidding war that started at 150 thousand dollars and quickly rose to 300,000 dollars. In the last twenty minutes of the auction, the pair of shoes exceeded 3.5 times the maximum estimate of 150,000 dollars, bringing the final price to 560 thousand dollars. Bidders ranged in age from 19 to 50 years and participated from four continents, with 70% of potential new buyers for Sotheby’s. The shoes were sold by collector Jordan Geller, the founder of the Shoezeum sneaker museum in Las Vegas.
The story of the Forbidden Air Jordans
The German brand set out to transform shoes traditionally associated with sports into something to wear on the streets, necessitating a change in mindset. In the ’80s, something happened that propelled Nike forward, and the mastermind behind this revolution was Michael Jordan. Nike understood that in the sneaker market, the future of marketing was as much about the shoe’s quality as it was about creating an image around it linked to the personalities of great sports figures. During that period, Jordan, a luxury NBA rookie, signed a very generous contract with Nike. Michael Jordan hung up his Converse and slipped on the first Air Jordan. In reality, they were not Air Jordans at all. The controversial sneakers had the word “Air Jordan” on the heel, but technically they were Nike Air Ships. The key element was the choice of colors, red and black, matching those of Jordan’s team: the Chicago Bulls.
At the time, NBA uniform rules required shoes to be chosen in line with those of other players on the team. In a sea of white, the Air Ships of Jordan immediately caught attention, and the league rushed to ban their use. It was a miraculous move for Nike, skyrocketing the value of their product.
The NBA ban was leveraged to create the message of the legendary Air Jordan advertisement. Many likely still remember the commercial: Jordan dribbles the ball while staring at the camera, and the frame slowly descends to focus on his feet. An off-camera deep and solemn voice reminds us that although the NBA may have banned them, fortunately, we are free to wear them wherever we want.
Getty ImagesFocus On Sport
The auction date coincided with the 35th anniversary of the launch of the very first “Nike Air Jordan 1s” model and the airing of the final episode of The Last Dance, the documentary series on ESPN and Netflix that chronicles the 1997-1998 season of the Chicago Bulls, Jordan’s last championship with the Bulls.
American basketball player Michael Jordan, of the Chicago Bulls, signals a play during a game, Hartford, Connecticut, 1995. (Photo by Bob Stowell/Getty Images)Robert W Stowell Jr
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