1986 Michael Jordan Game Worn & Signed Nike Air Jordan 1 Sneakers--Photo Matched!...

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Sold on Feb 26, 2022 for:

$675,000.00 Bid Source: Internet bidder

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Worn on April Fools Day visit to Milwaukee Bucks!

1986 Michael Jordan Game Worn & Signed Nike Air Jordan 1 Sneakers--Photo Matched! The start of two of the greatest dynasties in basketball history are marked by this exceptional offering, a groundbreaking sculpture of leather and rubber that has become permanently engrained in American cultural iconography. Today the design seems charmingly simplistic when compared to the futuristic blend of mysterious polymers utilized to create the latest generation of Air Jordans, but the Ones will always reign supreme in collecting circles no matter what the designers at Nike could ever bring to market.

Of course it goes without saying that the tiny fraction of those inaugural Air Jordans owned and operated by their namesake occupy the pinnacle of the sneaker hierarchy, placing this offering high on the list of the most desirable basketball shoes ever made available at auction. The offered pair has been definitively photo matched to April 1, 1986 action at MECCA Arena in Milwaukee, a contest that saw His Airness--still nursing a broken foot suffered in late October--come off the bench to score twenty-eight points in twenty-six minutes of play to lead all Bulls.

The sneakers he wore, the most famous design in the history of athletic footwear, were slightly altered from their standard format to mitigate the threat to Jordan's healing bones, trading out the standard soles for examples used on "Nike Dunk" models, which were both softer and wider. But a couple abnormalities on the leather uppers provided the data points to allow for the photo match that links them to that 116-107 defeat in the Dairy State.

A rather surprising production defect left an uneven count of eyelets on each side of the right shoe's tongue, missing a punch where the third from the top should be at interior ankle. In game photography, the skipped tier of crossed laces is clearly evident. The left shoe does not bear this defect, and is accordingly laced properly. On the same side of the missing eyelet is an area of white abrasions to the red leather bordering the toe box, again a dead match to game photography. Another white scuff between the outside swoosh and toe box of the left shoe is likewise unmistakable in the provided game images.

Each interior ankle bears factory coding in white printed text reading "13 860304STPS," which every Air Jordan expert can translate to size thirteen, produced between March and April of 1986, with "ST" denoting the site of production and "PS" standing for "Player Sample," letters found only in shoes made for Jordan himself.

The wear suggests a few games of wear, though only one has been able to be proven photographically. Original "Nike Air" insoles remain at interior, and black leather around ankles has cracked over the passage of the decades and is not considered to be game related. A black ballpoint signature appears directly below the eyelet remaining unused due to its missing partner on the right shoe, rating 8/10.

Jordan would claim his first scoring title at the close of this 1985-86 season with a career-best average of 37.1 points per game, the first of ten seasons as the NBA's most potent offensive weapon. An offering of enormous historical relevance and collecting appeal. Photo Match LOA from MeiGray. LOA from Photo-Match.com. Full LOA from Beckett Authentication Services. LOA from Heritage Auctions. Full LOA from PSA/DNA.