A pair of sneakers worn by Michael Jordan was auctioned in 1984 – Télam

A pair of sneakers that belonged to the American basketball star Michael Jordan It was auctioned on Sunday at a record price of $ 1.47 million by Sotheby’s in Las Vegas.

The pair of sneakers auctioned this Sunday, from the Nike “Air Ship” range, forerunners of the Air Jordan 1 model, It was used by the iconic player during the 5 NBA game in 1984, informed the AFP agency.

The “Air Ship”, designed by Bruce Kilgore, originally came out in 1984, and they were the first shoes Jordan wore as a professional in the NBA.

In the preseason and in the first games of that first year as a rookie, Jordan wore the colors white and red, but also black and red (known as “Bred”) that Nike designed especially for him.

Known that model as “Chicago ‘”, for its colors, those sneakers became the most iconic not only for the player but for the Nike brand, and they became so popular that they left the field of sports to become a shoe for everyday use, added AFP.

The sneakers auctioned this Sunday were a gift from Jordan to Tommie Tim III Lewis ‘TJ’, their owner until now.

The previous record for a Jordan shoe was set in August 2020, during an auction at Christie’s for a Nike Air Jordan 1 worn by the player in 1985, during an episode that remains in the memory of fans: when he broke a hoop during a match.

The sales record is held by a pair of Nike Air Yeeezy 1 sneakers belonging to rapper Kanye West during the 2008 Grammy Awards. They reached $ 1.8 million last April.

Jordan definitively retired in 2003 from basketball at the Washington Wizards, having done so twice before, in 1993 and 1999, after having played 13 seasons for the Chicago Bulls.