The shoes Michael Jordan wore in his famous “Flu Game” sold for $104,765 early Thursday morning, shattering the record price paid for a pair of game-worn shoes in any sport.
Despite battling flu-like symptoms that nearly forced him to miss the game, Michael Jordan scored 38 points to rally Chicago past Utah in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals.
The shoes, brought to the market by Grey Flannel Auctions and consigned by former Utah Jazz ball boy Preston Truman, were worn by Jordan during Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals in which Jordan scored 38 points for the Chicago Bulls despite laboring up and down the court from feeling sick that day.
The identity of the winning bidder was not immediately made public, but the amount paid blew away the previous record paid for a pair of game-used shoes, which were also worn by Jordan. A collector paid $31,070 just last month for a pair that Jordan wore in his rookie season.
Truman was able to secure the shoes, after developing a relationship with Jordan, which started when he says he one day fetched Jordan’s traditional pregame applesauce during the 1996-97 season.
When Jordan came back to Utah for the Finals that year, Truman says he brought Jordan applesauce even though Jordan wasn’t in an eating mood. While Jordan was said to be suffering flu-like symptoms, Jordan’s trainer Tim Grover said years later that he was sure it was from food poisoning from a pizza Jordan ate the night before.
After the game, which put the Bulls up 3-2 and one game from winning their fifth title, Jordan gave Truman his shoes from the game.
Besides the story, Truman provided the auction with a photo of Jordan signing the shoes for him that night, which matched the suit from pictures of him leaving the Delta Center.
