Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan is almost as synonymous with shoes as he is with basketball, and on Sunday a pair of his most famous sneakers sold for a record price.
According to SCP Auctions, a pair of Converse sneakers that Jordan wore as a member of Team USA during the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles sold at auction on Sunday for a whopping $190,372.80:
Sports Illustrated reported that the shoes were worn by Jordan in the gold medal game for the Americans, and were the last pair of game-worn shoes that he ever wore as an amateur athlete. He gave the shoes, autographed, to a ball boy after the victory in the gold medal tilt.
When the announcement was made that the sneakers would be put up for sale, it was expected that the shoes would sell for upwards of $100,000, and bidding quickly sped past that on Sunday as they sold for nearly double that amount.
According to Finances Online, the shoes that sold at auction Sunday set a new record for game-worn sneakers, far-eclipsing the $104,000 that Jordan’s famous “Flu Game” sneakers scored at auction. Coincidentally, Sunday was the 20th anniversary of that game, a victory over the Utah Jazz where Jordan scored 38 points.
