Michael Jordan 1984 Olympic game-worn Converse Fastbreak (gold-medal game vs Spain)

A Converse player

Before Nike, Michael Jordan was a Converse player. At the University of North Carolina he wore the brand thanks to a deal worth $10,000 a year that was given to his coach, Dean Smith. He played in Converse models including the Pro Leather and the Fastbreak in college and as a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic team.

The shoes from the gold-medal game are white canvas and leather mid-tops with navy trim. A navy Converse star logo appears on both sides and again on the upper heels, the size 13 and manufacturer codes are stamped inside, and the original white laces are still in place. Jordan's own navy orthotic inserts are still inside them.

In May 1984, Jordan announced he would skip his senior year at North Carolina. He was drafted by the Chicago Bulls with the third pick that June. When he walked onto the floor at the Forum for the Olympic final, he was already a professional in waiting, still wearing the shoes of his college program.

Los Angeles, 1984

The 1984 Summer Olympics ran from July 28 to August 12 in Los Angeles. President Ronald Reagan opened them, and Rafer Johnson lit the cauldron. Fourteen Eastern Bloc countries, including the Soviet Union and East Germany, boycotted the Games in response to the American-led boycott of Moscow in 1980. Even so, a record 140 national Olympic committees took part.

Basketball was played at the Forum from July 29 to August 10. The U.S. team was still made up entirely of college players; NBA players would not be allowed until 1992. Indiana's Bobby Knight coached the team and cut future Hall of Famers Charles Barkley, Karl Malone and John Stockton at the tryouts.

The team that remained was overwhelming. Across eight games it won by an average of 32 points. Jordan, 21, led the team in scoring at 17.1 points a game, with Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin alongside him.

The final against Spain

The gold-medal game on August 10, 1984, was not close. The United States beat Spain 96-65, shooting 39 of 61 from the field. Jordan played 28 minutes, made 9 of 15 shots and 2 of 5 free throws, and finished with a game-high 20 points, plus 3 steals and 2 assists.

Wayman Tisdale added 14 points, Sam Perkins 12 and Patrick Ewing 9. Spain shot 21 of 57.

It was Jordan's last competitive game as an amateur. Later accounts of the shoes describe it as the last time he was seen playing in Converse. Soon after the Games he went to Nike's headquarters with his agent, David Falk, and signed a five-year deal reported at $7 million, including stock options. He made his NBA debut on October 26, 1984.

From the locker room to the auction record

Gail Goodrich, the Los Angeles Lakers great, oversaw game operations at the Forum during the Olympic tournament, and his son worked as a ball boy at nearly every U.S. game. After the final, the 11-year-old got the shoes directly from Jordan in the locker room, and Jordan signed both of them there. When they were sold, they came with the son's letter describing how he got them and an image of his official full-access Forum badge from the Games.

They were sold at auction in an online sale that closed early on Sunday, June 4, 2017, for $190,373 with premium. That broke the previous auction record for game-worn shoes, $104,765, set in 2013 by the Air Jordan XII sneakers Jordan wore in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals. The buyer chose to remain anonymous.

The record lasted two years. On July 23, 2019, a 1972 Nike 'Moon Shoe' sold for $437,500, and the announcement of that sale cited this pair's $190,373 as the previous world auction record for any sneakers.

One part of the history is unresolved. In September 2014, an anonymous former ball boy for the 1984 team consigned a signed pair of white Converse that he said Jordan wore in the gold-medal game and on the medal stand, with bidding set to open at $5,000. The sources reviewed here do not say how that sale ended, or whether it involved the same pair.

The other pair, and how to tell them apart

There was a second ball boy. He also got a pair from Jordan in the locker room after the final, and Jordan signed it in person too. That pair, however, was worn earlier in the tournament, not in the gold-medal game. It sold at auction on November 5, 2017, for $88,644.

The two pairs are the same model, size 13, and differ in their details. The gold-medal pair shows more scuffing and heel drag, and its white canvas has faded to off-white or cream. It is not signed in the same spot on both shoes: the right is signed on the inner ankle and the left on the outer ankle. The earlier-round pair is signed on the outer ankle of each shoe and still has its original Converse insoles; the gold-medal pair has Jordan's navy orthotic inserts.

A third pair has come up as well: Converse Fastbreaks that Jordan wore at the 1984 Olympic Trials, signed on both shoes and in size 13, were offered at auction in July 2021. Jordan had given them to the teenage son of the team's traveling physician.

The numbers

Game

August 10, 1984, Olympic final vs. Spain, the Forum. USA won 96-65.

Jordan box score

28 MIN, 9-15 FG, 2-5 FT, 20 PTS, 1 REB, 2 AST, 3 STL, 1 BLK, 1 TOV, 3 PF

Team leaders

Jordan 20, Tisdale 14, Perkins 12, Ewing 9

Tournament

Jordan led the U.S. at 17.1 points per game; 8-0, winning by an average of 32

Shoe size

13

Timeline

1. May 1984

   Jordan announces he will skip his senior season at North Carolina.

2. Jun 1984

   The Chicago Bulls draft Jordan with the third overall pick.

3. Jul 28, 1984

   The Los Angeles Olympics open.

4. Jul 29, 1984

   Olympic basketball begins at the Forum.

5. Aug 10, 1984

   The U.S. beats Spain 96-65 for gold; Jordan scores 20 and signs these shoes for a ball boy in the locker room.

6. Oct 26, 1984

   Jordan makes his NBA debut for the Bulls.

7. Sep 2014

   A former 1984 ball boy consigns a signed Converse pair said to be from the gold-medal game; the result is not recorded in the sources reviewed.

8. Jun 4, 2017

   The gold-medal pair sells at auction for $190,373, a record for game-worn shoes.

9. Nov 5, 2017

   A second Jordan Olympic pair, worn earlier in the tournament, sells for $88,644.

10. Jul 23, 2019

    A 1972 Nike Moon Shoe sells for $437,500, passing this pair's auction record.

11. Jul 2021

    Jordan's signed Converse Fastbreaks from the 1984 Olympic Trials are offered at auction.

The world in 1984

• Jul 28, 1984

  President Ronald Reagan opens the Los Angeles Olympics; Rafer Johnson lights the cauldron.

• 1984

  Fourteen Eastern Bloc countries, led by the Soviet Union, boycott the Games.

• 1984

  A record 140 national Olympic committees take part anyway.

• Aug 10, 1984

  The U.S. men win basketball gold; Spain takes silver.

• Aug 12, 1984

  The Los Angeles Games close.

• 1984

  Built largely with private money and existing venues, the Games are later widely considered the most financially successful modern Olympics.

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 1984 Olympic game-worn Converse Fastbreak (gold-medal game vs Spain) is number 13 of 100 in the sneakers entries of the FLOAT 100. 22 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 (12 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Jordan wore Converse at North Carolina because of a $10,000-a-year deal given to his coach, Dean Smith.
• The ball boy who got these shoes was 11 years old and the son of Lakers great Gail Goodrich.
• Jordan signed the right shoe on the inner ankle and the left shoe on the outer ankle.
• Bobby Knight cut Charles Barkley, Karl Malone and John Stockton from the 1984 Olympic team.
• The pair's $190,373 sale broke a record held by another Jordan pair, the 1997 'Flu Game' Air Jordan XIIs.
• Jordan's own navy orthotic inserts are still inside the shoes.