By Alessandra Ressa
The famous pair of sneakers Michael Jordan used in Trieste have been sold at an auction at Christie’s on Thursday August 13th in New York City for a record $615,000.
The Nike Air Jordan 1 High sneakers, described as the “rarest of the rare”, were used by the Chicago Bulls star in an exhibition game at the Trieste sports hall in 1985, a match to remember in the history of basketball, between the Italian team Stefanel Trieste and Snaidero Caserta.
On 25 August young Jordan, wearing his trademark number 23 jersey and a pair of his new Air Jordan 1 shoes, scored 30 points. Far more notable than his points total, however, was the play in the game in which he sprang into the air from his left foot, vaulted an Italian player, and landed a slam dunk with such force that it shattered the glass of the backboard.
Jordan’s left shoe from the game still contains a shard of the backboard embedded in its sole. This unique feature accounts for its record sale on Thursday.
“This is the original shoe with an actual piece of the backboard, a piece of glass, in the sole of the shoe,” said Caitlin Donovan, head of handbag and sneaker sales at Christie’s — which organized the auction with Stadium Goods.
Though the sale broke the record set in May when a pair of Air Jordan1’s sold for $560,000, the new auction landed below the estimated range of $650,000 and $850,000.
The identity and nationality of the wealthy collector are still unknown.
