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There is worn stitching, fabric fraying, organic fading and piling on the seams of this size 46 Larry Bird jersey which is up for sale and is going for the price of a modest house. Those imperfections are a good thing. They prove the jersey matches the one worn for seven NBA playoff games by Bird as he tore up the court. That, along with a high-tech photo game-matching process, authenticate this is a rare, game-worn jersey donned by Bird during the 1987 Eastern Conference playoffs, including in two finals games. Now up for bid at Heritage Auctions, the jersey had a bid of $175,000 as of early Tuesday morning.
A piece of L.A. basketball history is hitting the auction block -- the game ball used by Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and the Lakers when they won the 2000 NBA Finals!! TMZ Sports has learned bidding for the item is part of the Sotheby's "Winter Sports Classic" ... with the company showcasing $30 million worth of sports memorabilia at The Breuer Building in New York.
This game ball isn't the only gem in the lineup -- a full set of the Chicago Bulls championship rings will also be up for grabs. There's also Kevin Durant's game-worn Golden State Warriors debut jersey from October 25, 2016.
The first No. 24 jersey worn by Kobe Bryant with the Los Angeles Lakers recently sold for $889,000, including buyer's premium, at Sotheby's. A jersey used by Jerry West from 1964 to 1967 also sold for $533,400 on the same night. Bryant wore the jersey while posting 23 points in a 118-112 victory against the Seattle Supersonics on Nov. 3, 2006. He would score 50 points or more in a game on 10 occasions in that 2006-07 season en route to his second straight -- and final -- league scoring title.
Logan Paul filed a temporary restraining order against Heritage Auctions earlier this week following concerns over the authenticity of a large slab of wooden basketball flooring autographed by Michael Jordan that Paul won through an auction. The piece had been deemed to be a segment of game-used United Center court used by the Chicago Bulls from 1994 through 1998, when the team won its second three-peat of the decade.
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Paul claims in the lawsuit that the item “does not match the court from 1995-1998, as a result of the court either being replaced or, as Heritage claims, repainted and resurfaced.” Upper Deck authenticated the Jordan autograph and inscription with Beckett also verifying the signature. Upper Deck has held exclusive rights to Jordan autographed items since 2009.
WWE star and social media influencer Logan Paul filed an injunction against Heritage Auctions in Texas district court Thursday, alleging authenticity concerns over a Michael Jordan-signed piece of United Center floor that Paul won at auction. Paul says he was not allowed to investigate the floor's authenticity before Heritage solicited payment, which was originally due Sept. 25, according to court records. Per court records, Paul was told by Heritage that he would lose his rights to the floor if he did not meet the deadline. Paul's winning bid was for $562,555.42 including buyer's premium. Josh Bernstein of Akerman LLP, Paul's counsel, has asked for a temporary restraining order and temporary injunction against Heritage Auctions; the TRO was granted on Thursday morning. A court date regarding the temporary injunction has been set for Oct. 9. "It goes without saying that authenticity is everything in the collectibles community," Bernstein said in a statement to ESPN. "Collectors like Logan deserve, and are entitled to, proof of authenticity that holds up under scrutiny and addresses glaring holes and inconsistencies."
Wilt Chamberlain’s Los Angeles Lakers uniform from the 1969 NBA Finals, when he faced off against arch-rival Bill Russell and the Celtics for the last time, will sell next week at Sotheby’s, and bidding could potentially stretch into the millions at Sotheby’s. The last time a Chamberlain jersey from the NBA Finals crossed the auction block (from the 1972 Finals), it sold for $4.9 million in 2023.
Very few photo-matched Chamberlain gamers have ever sold publicly. Some of the other most expensive results, other than the record-breaking 1972 Finals jersey, include a 1960 Warriors jersey worn by Chamberlain for the full season including playoffs which sold for nearly $1.8 million in 2023, as well as a jersey matched to an undated photo from the late 1950s, which sold for nearly $490,000 in 2022. Bidding for the uniform currently sits at $320,000.
A jersey worn by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander during the 2025 NBA Finals sold at auction for $165,100. Sotheby’s auctioned off several pieces of memorabilia from the Finals, including game-worn jerseys and official equipment.
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Some of the top-selling items so far include: Chet Holmgren’s Game 2 jersey: $40,640, Jalen Williams’ Game 2 jersey: $38,100, Game 1 basketball: $12,700 IMGhttps://www.instagram.com/reel/DMX58UpxQQH/
The Kobe sneakers in question are the 1997 Adidas EQT Elevation, the first shoe from the brand worn by Bryant in the NBA, which was renamed the Crazy 97 for its reissues. The late Los Angeles Lakers icon memorably wore them in the 1997 slam dunk contest and continued to lace the pair up in the playoffs, which is where the pair that’s up for grabs originated from. According to Infinite Auctions, the shoe has been photo matched as the same pair worn by Bryant during Game 4 of the 1997 Western Conference first round, where the Lakers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers.
One family of four paid $13.50 apiece for tickets to Michael Jordan’s NBA debut Oct. 26, 1984. More than 40 years later, two of those tickets are hitting the auction block, fresh to the hobby and estimated to fetch more than $100,000 collectively later this summer. Though Jordan would not exactly light up the stat sheet, shooting 5-for-16 from the field with 16 points and seven assists, it marked a seminal moment in basketball history and the beginning of the most storied and transcendent career in the sport.