NBA debut jerseys for Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant will hit the auction block through Sotheby’s. The two jerseys are being sold individually, but the auction house estimates that the two jerseys could sell for a combined $20 million or more.

Jordan’s 1984 preseason debut autographed Chicago Bulls jersey will be available starting on March 12 and Bryant’s 1996 preseason and regular season debut Los Angeles Lakers jersey will hit the auction block on April 10. 

The most expensive NBA jersey sold at auction was Jordan’s “Last Dance” jersey from his final 1998 NBA Finals game sold for $10.1 million in September 2022. That was the most expensive game-used jersey of any kind until Babe Ruth’s 1932 World Series “called shot” jersey sold for $24.12 million last August. Bryant’s most expensive jersey sold at auction — the second most valuable NBA jersey to date — was a game-worn, autographed jersey from his 2007-2008 MVP season which sold for $5.8 million. Both auctions occurred through Sotheby’s.

“The historical weight of these two jerseys is difficult to overstate,” said Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of modern collectibles. “They are as rare as they come. Early rookie jerseys represent the genesis of an athlete’s career. For collectors in search of true one-of-one treasures, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own iconic pieces of basketball history. 

“Debut games are something every athlete experiences just once in their career journey, and is a moment where the hype of their pre-professional career finally comes to bear in the big leagues.”

According to the auction house, Jordan’s jersey from his preseason debut on Oct. 5, 1984 is the only photo-matched, game-worn jersey from his rookie season to be sold at auction. The jersey is also photo-matched to his second and third preseason games.

Jordan made his preseason NBA debut against the Indiana Pacers in front of 2,000 people in Peoria, Illinois’s mostly empty Civic Center. He led the game with 18 points in 29 minutes and the Bulls won 102-98.

Due to the Bulls being “financially strained” at the time, Jordan wore a jersey previously worn by other players, according to Sotheby’s press release, receiving extensive authentication by MeiGray and Sports Investors Authentication. Jordan switched to a different jersey at the start of the 1984-1985 regular season.

Bryant’s jersey holds a photomatch to seven moments of his early career including his NBA media day, preseason debut on Oct. 16, 1996 and regular season debut on Nov. 3, 1996, according to Sotheby’s. At 18 years and 72 days old, he became the youngest player to make his NBA debut at the time in that game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, but he only played six minutes, attempted one field goal (a miss), had one rebound, one block, one turnover and one personal foul. 

The jerseys will be on display at Sotheby’s New York location starting March 21.

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(Photos: Sotheby’s)