Sotheby’s will auction the debut jerseys of Michael Jordan with the Chicago Bulls in 1984 and Kobe Bryant with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1996, the renowned firm announced Thursday.
The auction house estimates that the two jerseys have a total value of around $20 million.
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Jordan’s jersey is the one worn by the player considered the best of all time in his debut with the Bulls in a preseason game on October 5, 1984
He was also dressed in the second and third games played by Jordan in that preseason. The Bulls’ “23” changed his jersey at the start of the regular season.
It is a recycled Bulls uniform, as under the name “Jordan” and the number “23” there are dark stains, which appear to be remnants of previous players’ names and numbers. This feature has facilitated its authentication by the auction house.
According to Sotheby’s, this is the only jersey worn by Jordan during his rookie season to come up for auction.
In fact, the auction house considers Jordan’s jerseys from the 1980s to be “unicorns” because of their rarity, as at that time players used to wear the same uniform for several games, which makes the number of copies very small.
In addition to Jordan’s, Sotheby’s will also auction the jersey worn by Bryant when he made his debut with the Lakers in preseason and regular season in his rookie year.
The jersey with the “8” is photographically associated with his preseason debut on October 16, 1996, regular season on November 3, 1996, as well as NBA Media Day.
