Michael Jordan 1998 NBA Finals 'Last Dance' Game 1 Jersey

The Last Dance

Everyone inside the Bulls expected 1997-98 to be the end. General manager Jerry Krause had made it clear that coach Phil Jackson's tenure would end with the season, and Jordan said he would not play for anyone else. In training camp Jackson wrote a name for the season on the chalkboard: 'The Last Dance.'

It was not a smooth year. Scottie Pippen delayed off-season surgery so rehab would not spoil his summer, which kept him out well into the season; he demanded a trade when Krause tried to move him and played only 44 games. Jordan carried the team, led the league at 28.7 points per game, played all 82 games and won his fifth regular-season MVP award. Chicago finished 62-20, the same record as Utah, but the Jazz held home-court advantage in the Finals because they had won both regular-season meetings.

The paths to the Finals were very different. Utah swept the Lakers in the Western Conference finals and had ten days off. Chicago needed seven games to get past Larry Bird's Indiana Pacers and had two days' rest before flying to Utah. It was the first time since 1989 that the same two teams had met in consecutive Finals, and the Bulls entered as underdogs.

June 3, 1998: Game 1 in Salt Lake City

The atmosphere in Salt Lake City was hostile enough that Jordan's children were kept home; footage from the day shows Utah fans driving a car with a bull on a spit. On the team bus to the arena, Jordan was filmed grooving to R&B singer Kenny Lattimore, a scene that went viral when The Last Dance aired in 2020. Then he put on this jersey.

The Bulls trailed 45-40 at halftime and 67-59 after three quarters, then won the fourth 20-12 to force overtime at 79-79. Utah outscored them 9-6 in overtime and won 88-85; Pippen just missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer. John Stockton led the Jazz with 24 points and 8 assists, and Karl Malone had 14 rebounds.

Jordan played 45 minutes and 36 seconds, the most he played in any game of the series, and scored 33 points on 13-of-29 shooting, with 6-of-8 free throws, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. Utah's win in Game 1 strengthened predictions that the Jazz would finally take the title.

From Game 1 to The Last Shot

Chicago won Game 2 in Utah 93-88 behind Jordan's 37 points, its first win over the Jazz all season. Back in Chicago, the Bulls won Game 3 96-54. Utah's 54 points were, at the time, the fewest scored in any NBA game since the shot clock was introduced, and the 42-point margin was the largest in Finals history. Chicago took Game 4 86-82; Utah won Game 5 83-81 behind Malone's 39 points.

Game 6 returned to the Delta Center on June 14. Pippen aggravated his back on the opening basket. Jordan scored 45 points. Trailing 86-85 in the final minute, he stole the ball from Malone, dribbled up the court, crossed over Bryon Russell and hit a 20-foot jumper with 5.2 seconds left for an 87-86 win. It was the Bulls' sixth title in eight seasons and Jordan's sixth Finals MVP.

The 1998 Finals drew an 18.7 Nielsen rating, the highest in NBA history, and for the first time the NBA Finals outrated the World Series. Jordan averaged 33.5 points in 41.7 minutes over the six games. He announced his second retirement on January 13, 1999.

How this jersey is identified

This jersey was matched to Game 1 by photo matching, a method that compares high-resolution game photographs with unique features of a garment, and it came with a photo-matching certificate for its game use.

It also came with a graded copy of the June 1998 issue of Sports Illustrated, whose cover features this jersey. The Last Dance documentary focused mostly on Game 1 and Game 6, and the jersey appears heavily in Episode X.

Jordan Finals jerseys are scarce in public hands. Most are in private collections, and Jordan gave a 1996 Finals home jersey to the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture in 2016 along with a $5 million donation. This was only the second Jordan NBA Finals jersey to appear at auction.

From the documentary to a record

The Last Dance premiered on April 19, 2020, in the first weeks of pandemic lockdowns, and ran through May 17, 2020. It later won the Emmy for outstanding documentary or nonfiction series. In April 2022, months before this sale, the specialist who would later sell the jersey said the show 'changed the entire sports memorabilia market.'

The jersey was offered in a single-lot online sale. It was exhibited in Monterey, California, from August 17 to 20, 2022, and in New York from September 6 to 12, with bidding open September 6 to 14. The estimate was $3 million to $5 million, which would already have been a record for a Jordan jersey. It drew 20 bids and sold for $10.091 million.

That beat the $9.28 million paid in May 2022 for Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' shirt, the $5.64 million paid in 2019 for a Babe Ruth jersey, the $3.69 million paid in 2021 for a Kobe Bryant rookie jersey, which had been the NBA jersey record, and the $2.7 million paid in 2021 for a signed Jordan jersey patch card, the previous high for any Jordan item. Only a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card, sold weeks earlier for $12.6 million, had brought more as a sports collectible.

The record stands, then falls

In December 2023 a set of six Lionel Messi World Cup shirts sold for $7.8 million, short of this jersey's mark, which was still the highest price for a game-worn jersey at auction.

In September 2026 Jordan's jersey from Game 3 of the same series, the 96-54 win, sold for $12.26 million, setting a new record for an NBA jersey. It had been estimated at $10 million to $15 million and drew one bid. That Game 3 jersey is a different object, worn at home in Chicago.

The numbers

Game 1, June 3, 1998

45:36 MP, 13-29 FG, 1-2 3P, 6-8 FT, 3 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 2 BLK, 0 TOV, 33 PTS

Game 1 result

Utah 88, Chicago 85 (OT). By quarter: 17-17, 23-28, 19-22, 20-12, OT 6-9

1998 Finals averages

6 games, 41.7 MPG, 33.5 PPG, .427 FG, .814 FT, 4.0 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.8 SPG

Series

Bulls won 4-2; Jordan Finals MVP (his sixth)

1997-98 regular season

82 games, 28.7 PPG (league leader), 5.8 RPG, 3.5 APG; league MVP

Bulls record

62-20

Timeline

1. Feb 17, 1963

   Michael Jordan is born.

2. 1997

   In training camp, Phil Jackson names the 1997-98 season 'The Last Dance.'

3. 1998

   Jordan finishes the regular season leading the league at 28.7 points per game; the Bulls go 62-20 and he wins his fifth MVP award.

4. Jun 3, 1998

   Game 1 of the Finals in Salt Lake City: Jordan wears this jersey for 45:36 and scores 33 points in an 88-85 overtime loss.

5. Jun 5, 1998

   Chicago wins Game 2 in Utah 93-88.

6. Jun 7, 1998

   Chicago wins Game 3 at home 96-54, the largest margin in Finals history.

7. Jun 14, 1998

   Jordan's last shot with the Bulls wins Game 6 87-86; he scores 45 points and is named Finals MVP for the sixth time.

8. Jun 1998

   Sports Illustrated puts this jersey on its cover after the Finals.

9. Jan 13, 1999

   Jordan announces his second retirement.

10. 2009

    Jordan is inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

11. 2016

    Jordan donates $5 million and a 1996 Finals home jersey to the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.

12. Apr 19, 2020

    The Last Dance premieres; Episode X, featuring this jersey, airs May 17, 2020.

13. Aug 17, 2022

    The jersey goes on public view in Monterey, California, ahead of the sale.

14. Sep 6, 2022

    Bidding opens in a single-lot online sale; the jersey is exhibited in New York through September 12.

15. Sep 14, 2022

    Sold for $10.091 million after 20 bids, a record for sports memorabilia.

16. Dec 14, 2023

    Six Messi World Cup shirts sell for $7.8 million, leaving this jersey's game-worn record intact.

17. Sep 29, 2026

    Jordan's Game 3 jersey from the same Finals sells for $12.26 million, a new NBA jersey record.

The world in 1998

• Jan 17, 1998

  The story of President Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky breaks; it will lead to his impeachment.

• Mar 23, 1998

  Titanic wins 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

• Apr 10, 1998

  The Good Friday Agreement is signed in Belfast.

• Jun 10, 1998

  The World Cup opens in France; the host nation beats Brazil 3-0 in the July 12 final.

• Sep 4, 1998

  Google is founded in Menlo Park, California, by Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

• Nov 20, 1998

  The first module of the International Space Station, Zarya, launches from Kazakhstan.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, Michael Jordan 1998 NBA Finals 'Last Dance' Game 1 Jersey is number 5 of 100 in the memorabilia entries of the FLOAT 100. 100 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (6 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• The Bulls lost the game this jersey was worn in, 88-85 in overtime.
• Jordan played more minutes in Game 1 (45:36) than in any other game of the 1998 Finals, including the famous Game 6.
• Before Game 1, Jordan was filmed on the team bus grooving to R&B singer Kenny Lattimore; the clip became a meme when The Last Dance aired in 2020.
• The estimate was $3 million to $5 million; the jersey sold for more than double the high end.
• The jersey came with a graded copy of the Sports Illustrated issue that shows it on the cover.
• The 1998 Finals had the highest TV rating in NBA history and outrated that year's World Series.