One of the first pair of Nikes that Michael Jordan ever wore in the NBA has been sold to an anonymous buyer and you will not believe how much the buyer paid!
A signed pair of Nike Air Ships that were given to a ball boy for the Los Angeles Lakers in 1984 recently sold for $71,553. The Nike Air Ships were an alternate shoe that Mike decided to wear because his famed Air Jordan 1 (which dropped the same year, 1984) was not game ready. Some were questioning the authenticity of the Air Ships but I think that was put to rest as the size of the shoes were revealed. The right shoe is a 13 1/2 and the left is a size 13; and this was somewhat of a ritual for Mike in his early years in the league.
The Air Ships that were sold are only second to the highest paid pair of shoes that Michael Jordan wore in the league. To this day the “Flu Game” Bred 12s remain the highest paid shoe that Jordan wore during a game and those raked in $104,765. There was so much controversy surrounding those Air Ships though, that I’m surprised that the bid was not a little higher. In 1985, the NBA banned the Nike Air Ships as they were not in accordance with uniform rules and were deemed a violation of league policy. This ban ultimately helped sky rocket sales of the Nike Air Ship in the mid 1980s.
Source: ESPN
