Michael Jordan 'Shattered Backboard' game-worn Air Jordan 1 (Aug 1985, Trieste exhibition)

A sales trip to Europe

In the summer of 1985 Michael Jordan was the NBA's Rookie of the Year and the face of a brand-new shoe. Nike had signed him on October 26, 1984, to a six-year, $2.5 million deal, three times more than any other in the league at the time, with royalties on products sold under his name. The Air Jordan 1, designed by Peter Moore, went on public sale on April 1, 1985.

To introduce its young star to European fans, Nike sent Jordan on a short promotional tour. One Italian account lists three stops in Italy: Trieste, Rome and Caserta. Trieste got the first, and by a wide margin the most famous.

The plan for the August 25 exhibition against Juve Caserta was for Jordan to play one half for each side. He stayed with the home team, Stefanel Trieste, for the whole game, in a custom orange-and-black Stefanel jersey with the number 23.

The dunk

The game was played at the Chiarbola arena in Trieste before what one Italian account describes as thousands of spectators. Jordan scored 30 points, the figure given by both Italian and American accounts. During the game he went up for a dunk with so much force that the glass backboard shattered, scattering glass across the court.

Italian accounts say the falling glass hurt players on the floor, including Trieste's Tato Lopez. They differ on how serious the injury was, so this page does not characterize it further.

A Trieste publication later called it the only time Jordan destroyed a basket in his whole career. Thirty years on, it would give its name to one of the best-known colorways of his first shoe.

The shoes off his feet

After the game Jordan took off his Air Jordan 1s, signed them and gave them to Gianni Bertolotti, a Trieste player who had been his teammate for the night. Bertolotti, born in Milan in 1950, was a 6-foot-6 small forward who had played for the Italian national team, including at the 1976 Olympics, and was then in his second stint with Trieste.

The pair is an Air Jordan 1 High, reported in size 13.5 and autographed on the inner collars. What sets it apart from every other game-worn Jordan shoe is a piece of the backboard glass still embedded in the rubber of the left outsole.

Coverage of the 2025 offering reports that the pair has been photo-matched to the game.

Sources describe the colorway differently: some call it the red, white and black 'Chicago,' one calls it 'Bred,' another simply red and black. What is not in dispute is that it is not the orange-and-black colorway that later took the 'Shattered Backboard' name; those colors came from the Stefanel uniform, not from Jordan's shoes.

From Trieste to the auction block

Bertolotti kept the shoes for 35 years. In the summer of 2020, as interest in Jordan ran high after a ten-part documentary on his Bulls, the pair was offered in an online sale of Jordan game-worn and player-exclusive sneakers. Bidding ran from July 30 to August 13, 2020, against a published estimate of $650,000 to $850,000.

The pair sold on August 13 for $615,000 including the buyer's premium, on a hammer price reported at $500,000. It was the highest price ever paid for a pair of basketball shoes at the time, passing the $560,000 paid three months earlier for a signed pair from Jordan's rookie season. The whole 11-lot sale brought $931,875.

In December 2025 the pair came back to auction in New York, in a sale of sneakers and modern collectibles open December 5 to 15, with an estimate of $500,000 to $700,000 and an opening bid reported at $400,000. This page has not found a published result for that sale.

A colorway named for a moment

Thirty years after Trieste, Jordan Brand released an Air Jordan 1 High in black, white and orange, the colors of the Stefanel uniform, and called it 'Shattered Backboard.' It went on sale June 27, 2015, at $160 and sold out immediately.

The jersey Jordan wore that night has its own story. It came from Carlo Stefanel and was offered at auction in New York from November 18 to December 3, 2020, with an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. Authenticators matched it to game photographs by the alignment of the crest, number, piping, team name and advertising patch.

The shoes remain the more striking object. Most game-worn sneakers rest on a photo match and a letter. This pair carries a physical piece of the event itself.

The numbers

Game

Nike exhibition, Stefanel Trieste vs. Juve Caserta, August 25, 1985, Chiarbola arena, Trieste

Jordan

30 points, full game for Trieste. No box score page was found, and the final score is not reported consistently.

1984-85 NBA season (the season before)

82 G, 28.2 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 5.9 APG, 2.4 SPG, .515 FG%. Rookie of the Year, All-Star.

Timeline

1. Oct 26, 1984

   Jordan signs a six-year, $2.5 million endorsement deal with Nike.

2. Apr 1, 1985

   The Air Jordan 1 goes on public sale.

3. Aug 25, 1985

   In a Nike exhibition in Trieste, Jordan scores 30 points and shatters a glass backboard with a dunk.

4. Aug 25, 1985

   After the game Jordan signs his shoes and gives them to Trieste player Gianni Bertolotti.

5. Jun 27, 2015

   The orange-and-black 'Shattered Backboard' Air Jordan 1 retro goes on sale at $160 and sells out.

6. Jul 30, 2020

   Online bidding opens on the pair, estimate $650,000 to $850,000.

7. Aug 13, 2020

   The pair sells at auction in New York for $615,000, a record for basketball shoes at the time.

8. Dec 3, 2020

   Bidding closes on Jordan's game-worn Stefanel jersey from the same night, offered at auction in New York.

9. Dec 5, 2025

   The pair returns to auction in New York, estimate $500,000 to $700,000, open through December 15.

The world in 1985

• Jan 20, 1985

  Ronald Reagan is sworn in privately for his second term as president.

• Jan 28, 1985

  USA for Africa records 'We Are the World' for famine relief in Ethiopia.

• Apr 23, 1985

  Coca-Cola launches New Coke; the original formula returns in less than three months.

• Jul 3, 1985

  Back to the Future opens and becomes the year's highest-grossing film.

• Jul 13, 1985

  Live Aid concerts are staged in Philadelphia and London.

• Sep 11, 1985

  Pete Rose collects his 4,192nd hit to become baseball's all-time hit leader.

• Oct 18, 1985

  The Nintendo Entertainment System goes on sale in U.S. stores.

• Nov 20, 1985

  Microsoft releases Windows 1.0.

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 'Shattered Backboard' game-worn Air Jordan 1 (Aug 1985, Trieste exhibition) is number 7 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 (7 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Jordan was supposed to play one half for each team in Trieste; he played the whole game for the home side.
• The 'Shattered Backboard' retro colorway takes its orange and black from the Stefanel Trieste uniform, not from the shoes Jordan wore.
• A piece of the backboard glass is still embedded in the left outsole of the game pair.
• The man who received the shoes, Gianni Bertolotti, played for Italy at the 1976 Olympics.
• The pair set its record just three months after the previous one, a signed pair from Jordan's rookie season that sold for $560,000.