Michael Jordan’s and Kobe Bryant’s first-ever NBA jerseys expected to sell for US$10 million apiece

Kobe Bryant shoots against the Atlanta Hawks on November 10, 1996 at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California. (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

Jerseys worn by Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant in the first NBA games of their careers could sell for millions of dollars when they go up for auction this spring.

Representing the basketball legends’ “humble beginnings,” they are expected to sell for a combined US$20 million, according to a press release from Sotheby’s, which is hosting the sale. The auction house said it expects each jersey to sell in the region of $10 million.

“Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant’s first NBA career jerseys are not just memorabilia; they are enduring symbols of the ambition, skill, and willpower that defined their legendary careers,” Brahm Wachter, head of modern collectibles at Sotheby’s, told CNN over email. “They are as rare as they come.”

Michael Jordan’s signed game-worn uniform from the 1980s is a “unicorn” rarely found on the market, Sotheby’s said.

The auction house said MeiGrey, a company specializing in authenticating and selling sports memorabilia, examined 130 jerseys purporting to have belonged to Jordan — but only found four to be authentic.

Jordan’s debut jersey is one of them. It was authenticated using “photo-matching,” which Wachter described as “a meticulous process of comparing specific markings, wear patterns, and unique characteristics of an item to high-resolution photographs or video footage.” It is the only jersey photo-matched to Jordan’s rookie season ever to go up for auction, according to Sotheby’s, which declined to identify the seller.

The jersey was matched and authenticated to his preseason debut on October 5, 1984, in Peoria, Illinois, where he first played for the Chicago Bulls.

“Debut games are unique milestones that every athlete experiences only once in their journey, making these jerseys especially coveted,” said Wachter, calling them the “moment where the hype of their pre-professional career finally comes to bear in the big leagues.”

Beneath Jordan’s name and the number 23 are dark stains, described by Sotheby’s as the likely remnants of the names and numbers of previous players who had worn the jersey. Wearing a repurposed jersey in his early days contrasts with the global icon he would become, the auctioneer added.

Similarly rare is Kobe Bryant’s debut Los Angeles Lakers jersey, which dates to the start of his legendary career with the team. The number 8 jersey has been photo-matched to moments like his first NBA Media Day, his preseason debut in October 1996, and regular-season debut the following month.

“This jersey is a tangible connection to the early stages of Bryant’s career, which would culminate in five NBA championships, two Finals MVP awards, and an iconic legacy as one of the greatest players in basketball history,” Sotheby’s said.

Bryant died in 2020, age 41, when the helicopter he was traveling in crashed into a hillside in California.

The auctions come at a time when “rookie memorabilia” — items dating back to the early days of a star athlete’s career — are at an all-time high in terms of price and popularity, according to Sotheby’s. The auctioneer reports that the most expensive item of rookie memorabilia ever sold was a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle baseball card that went for $12.6 million in August 2022.

The upcoming sale won’t be the first time jerseys from the two star players go to market for millions of dollars. In 2023, an autographed Kobe Bryant jersey from his 2007-2008 MVP season sold for $5.8 million.

It was the second most valuable basketball jersey ever sold, according to Sotheby’s, which also facilitated that sale.

The most valuable ever sold? A Michael Jordan game-worn 1998 NBA finals jersey that went for $10.1 million in September 2022.

The rookie jerseys will be exhibited to the public at Sotheby’s in New York from March 21.

Article written by Rosa Rahimi, CNN