Field notes · Memorabilia · 28 October 2026
Two jerseys from one Finals series, two records, two routes to sale
Jordan's Game 3 jersey from the 1998 Finals sold at auction in September. His Game 2 jersey sold privately on 12 October. The price rests on a chain of custody that the public reports only in part.
By BSJ Ventures on the Brich House platform
In brief
On 12 October 2026 Hunt Auctions announced a private sale of a game-worn, signed red Michael Jordan jersey from Game 2 of the 1998 NBA Finals, played 5 June 1998, for $14 million, the AP reported. Hunt calls it the highest price paid for basketball memorabilia. The report says the Bulls sold the jersey to a private collector in 2003 and that it changed hands once more before this sale. On 29 September the Game 3 jersey sold on the Joopiter platform for $12.26 million, CP24 reported. A Game 1 jersey sold at Sotheby's for about $10.1 million in 2022, per the AP.
The reports describe the route to each sale, not the proof behind it. Neither the AP nor CP24 says whether the jerseys were matched to photographs of the game, and neither names the sellers. The route differs too. One sale was open to bidding. The other was agreed in private, with no public bidding record. The wider market sets the backdrop. The 10-year Treasury yield was 4.99% on 27 October 2026, US Treasury data show, and consumer prices rose 3.7% in the 12 months to September, BLS reported on 14 October.
What it turns on
- A price is only as firm as the chain behind it. Both reports give a short chain: team, collector, one more owner. A longer gap in the record is a longer question for the next holder.
- A private sale leaves a thinner trail. An auction shows bids and a close. A private sale shows an announced figure and the house that arranged it.
- Three jerseys, three different games. Each game has its own date, its own jersey colour and its own sale. A record must say which game, not just which series.
What we do about it
- 01Tie the item to the game. Keep the date, opponent and jersey details, and any photographs that show the item in play, with the lot.
- 02Write the chain with dates. Team, each owner, each sale, each house, with a date for every step. Mark any gap as a gap.
- 03Record the route of sale. Note whether the sale was open or private and who announced it. A private figure is stated as reported, not as a bid.
- 04Photograph the item as held. Front, back, tags, stitching and signature, on the day it is received, kept with the chain.
Check it yourself
Tell us what you need held, or proven. Write to hello@brich.house