The Chicago Bulls ruled the 1990s, turning Michael Jordan and the team into basketball’s ultimate NBA dynasty. Six Finals appearances followed, with each concluding in triumph. Now, one unforgettable relic from that golden era is heading to auction, and it could fetch a historic price that could redefine sports memorabilia, according to the owner.
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The relic in focus is Jordan’s one-of-a-kind white, game-winning jersey from the Bulls’ iconic 1998 Finals run. Its current owner, Sports investor and actor Rob Gough, who bought the rare jersey in 2022, is putting it back on the market and reckons it could command an astonishing $100 million.
“I think this will be the first jersey to hit $100 million,” Gough told The New York Post.
If it reaches that mark, it would set a new record for game-worn sports relics by a huge margin. What adds to Gough’s possession is the rich heritage that it was part of, including “The Last Dance,” when Jordan secured his sixth and final NBA championship with the Chicago Bulls.
Rob Gough later embarked on an intense search to acquire the jersey from that historic run, and it’s easy to say that the jersey wasn’t easy to find.
“It’s not like I knew where it was or it was easy to find … this person led to this person, which led to the other person,” he said. “Unfortunately, I never got to the actual owner of the jersey. I got to a middleman who probably made millions of dollars [off the sale].”
He kept the jersey at his Puerto Rico home for two years before eventually moving it into a secure vault for protection. Gough also signed an NDA, preventing him from revealing his purchase price. But if we had to estimate the price, considering the fact that he expects the estimate to be $100 million, Gough could have bought it in the lower double-digit-million range.
The current record for an auction game-worn jersey is also held by a Michael Jordan jersey. In September 2022, RM Sotheby’s sold his 1998 Finals Game 1 jersey for a whopping $10.091 million in New York. But Gough wasn’t interested in that because the Bulls had lost that game 85-88 to the Utah Jazz despite Jordan scoring 33 points.
That can only mean that he would have been willing to shell out more than that amount to acquire the game-winning jersey he has now. Jordan wore that jersey in Game 3 against the Jazz, when the Bulls outright dominated them to win 96-54 and take the series lead 2-1.
But irrespective of Gough’s attachment to the piece of NBA history, he is ready to move on with an eight-figure sale. While the $100 million tag for a jersey sounds outrageous, the era of Jordan and the Bulls is treasured by all NBA fans alike, irrespective of their loyalties, making his expectations sound a tad more believable.
The Game that Defined Michael Jordan’s Sensational 1998 Run
Michael Jordan powered Chicago through a 62–20 campaign in 1997–98. He averaged 28.7 ppg and claimed his fifth regular-season MVP. He also earned All-NBA First Team, First Defensive Team, and All-Star Game MVP honors. The Chicago Bulls reached the Finals again after a seven-game battle with Indiana, and faced Utah in a rematch.
In Game 6, Jordan erupted for 45 points. With 41.9 seconds left, Chicago trailed 86–83. He quickly cut the deficit to 86–85, and later stole the ball from Karl Malone and raced upcourt. With 10 seconds remaining, he sized up Bryon Russell.
At 5.2 seconds, Jordan buried the decisive jumper from 20 feet. Chicago moved ahead 87–86 and secured its sixth championship. He finished the Finals averaging 33.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. Jordan earned his record sixth Finals MVP. The 1998 Finals remains the highest-rated Finals series, while Game 6 owns the NBA’s highest television rating.
Any sports collector would love to have a piece of memorabilia from the series when NBA history was written. But will the jersey fetch $100 million? That is a question we’ll have to wait to find the answer to.