June 15 (UPI) — Shoes Michael Jordan wore while hitting a game-winning shot in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals, dubbed his “Flu Game,” sold for $1.38 million, Goldin Auctions announced.
The red and black, signed Air Jordan sneakers received 14 bids and sold Wednesday night in the online auction. Bidding started at $500,000 and pushed above $1 million around noon May 28.
Jordan scored 38 points and totaled seven rebounds, five assists and three steals, and hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 25 seconds remaining, in the 90-88 Game 5 triumph against the Utah Jazz on June 11, 1997 in Salt Lake City. The win eventually helped Jordan secure the fifth of his six championships.
Jordan told reporters after the game that he almost passed out and couldn’t breathe. Reports later stated Jordan had “flu-like symptoms,” leading to the moniker for the famous game.
Jordan later said during an episode of ESPN’s The Last Dance that he had food poisoning.
Jordan initially gave the shoes from Game 5 to former Jazz ball boy Preston Truman. Truman, who captured a photo of the moment, sold them at an auction in 2013 for $104,765 at Grey Flannel Auctions. At the time, that sale price broke the record for the most expensive game-worn spots shoes sold at an auction.
Another pair of Jordan shoes later set the recent record sale price, when the Air Jordan XIIIs he wore during Game 2 of the 1998 NBA Finals sold for $2.238 million in April at Sotheby’s.
