A game-worn jersey of Michael Jordan from Game 3 of the 1998 NBA Finals has sold for $12.26 million, setting a new record for a piece of Jordan memorabilia. The jersey, worn during what was Jordan’s final championship season with the Chicago Bulls, was sold on Tuesday through Joopiter, a digital auction house founded by musician and entrepreneur Pharrell Williams.

The jersey was put up for sale by entrepreneur Ryan Gough and surpassed the previous record for Jordan memorabilia, which was held by another jersey worn by Jordan during Game 1 of the same Finals series that sold for $10.091 million. Joopiter described the Game 3 jersey as a symbol of Jordan’s greatness and a representation of an era that significantly elevated basketball’s global cultural impact.

Despite setting a record for Michael Jordan items, the $12.26 million sale remains well below the highest price ever paid for a game-worn sports artifact. That distinction belongs to Babe Ruth’s jersey from the 1932 World Series, where he famously made the “called shot.” Ruth’s jersey sold earlier in 2024 for $24.12 million, nearly double the amount fetched by Jordan’s jersey.

The 1998 NBA Finals marked the culmination of Jordan’s illustrious career with the Bulls, immortalized in the documentary series “The Last Dance.” The jersey’s sale highlights continued strong demand for iconic sports memorabilia that connects collectors to defining moments in sports history.