Michael Jordan hasn't played a competitive NBA game in more than two decades, but the six-time champion is rewriting the record books once again — this time at the auction block. A game-worn jersey from Game 3 of the 1998 NBA Finals, the white uniform Jordan wore during his legendary "Last Dance" championship run with the Chicago Bulls, is now up for sale with a jaw-dropping prediction attached: its owner says it could become the first jersey in history to sell for $100 million.
The seller is Rob Gough, a 42-year-old sports investor and actor who spent years hunting down the one-of-a-kind piece. The auction, hosted by Pharrell Williams' auction house Joopiter, opened on September 15 and runs through September 30, 2026 — making it one of the most closely watched sports memorabilia sales in history.
The Jersey Behind the $100 Million Ask
Gough put the staggering number out there himself. "I think this will be the first jersey to hit $100 million," he told The New York Post, which first revealed his identity as the jersey's owner. That figure would shatter the current record for game-worn sports memorabilia by an almost unbelievable margin.
The jersey itself is among the rarest Michael Jordan game-worn items in existence. According to Joopiter, only four game-winning jerseys exist from the 1998 Finals — one for each Bulls victory that secured Jordan's sixth and final NBA championship. This white Game 3 example is the only publicly known white game-winning jersey from that series ever to surface.
The on-court context only deepens the mystique. In Game 3, the Bulls demolished the Utah Jazz by 42 points, still the record for the biggest blowout in NBA Finals history. It was a defining night in "The Last Dance," the championship season later immortalized in the acclaimed documentary series of the same name.
Gough, an Indiana native, described acquiring the jersey as a "wild treasure hunt." "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. He never dealt with the original owner directly. "Unfortunately I never got to the actual owner of the jersey, I got to a middle man who probably made millions of dollars [off the sale]." Gough signed a non-disclosure agreement as part of the deal and has never disclosed how much he paid.
From 'The Last Dance' to the Auction Block
The path that carried Jordan's jersey from the hardwood to Joopiter stretches back nearly three decades:
- June 1998: Jordan wears the white No. 23 jersey as the Bulls beat the Jazz by 42 points in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, the largest blowout in Finals history.
- 2021: Gough makes his name in collectibles, buying a rare 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card for a then-record $5.2 million.
- 2022: Jordan's Game 1 jersey from the same 1998 Finals sells for $10.1 million at Sotheby's, setting the current record for game-worn memorabilia.
- Aug. 17, 2026: The Athletic reports the Game 3 jersey is headed to auction.
- Aug. 23, 2026: The New York Post reveals Gough as the owner and his $100 million prediction.
- Sept. 15, 2026: Bidding opens on Joopiter.
- Sept. 30, 2026: The auction is scheduled to close.
Why a Game-Worn Jersey Is Now 'Modern Art'
Gough's decision to sell is as revealing as the price tag itself. He displayed the jersey in his Puerto Rico home for two years before moving it to a vault to keep it safe — and quickly learned what it meant to visitors.
"It's interesting, because I have a lot of great art. And when people come to the house, they skip right over the art and go right to the jersey," Gough said. "That's when I realized that this stuff is the new modern art."
Ultimately, he decided the piece deserved a bigger audience. "You're a steward of these iconic pieces of history. When I had it in the house, it was tremendous. But when it was in the vault … what's the point of being a steward of something if you're not gonna let people see it and enjoy it?"
Gough's collecting résumé backs up his confidence. After buying the Mantle card for $5.2 million in 2021, he later sold it for an eight-figure sum. "No one knows that I actually sold [the card] for eight figures," he said. "So this [jersey sale] would be the second at-least-eight-figure transaction." His collection also includes jerseys from Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, Tom Brady and Wayne Gretzky, and he recently purchased the Miami-based World Jai Alai League.
Gough's philosophy also explains why he values a winning jersey so highly. Jordan's Game 1 jersey — from a game the Bulls lost — currently holds the record at $10.1 million. "He lost Game 1 … I don't personally buy games where a guy loses because you're saying, 'That jersey on the wall, remember when Michael Jordan lost that game?' You just don't say that," Gough said.
The Auction Is Live Now
Bidding opened September 15 on Joopiter, the digital-first auction house founded by musician and entrepreneur Pharrell Williams, and runs through September 30. The sale is titled "Driven to Greatness," and the Jordan jersey is its centerpiece lot.
There is, however, a notable gap between the seller's ambition and the auction house's own guidance. While Gough has floated the $100 million figure, reports indicate Joopiter's official estimate for the jersey sits in the $10 million to $15 million range. If that holds, the jersey would still challenge the $10.1 million record — but fall far short of Gough's headline number.
Can It Actually Reach $100 Million?
The leap from a $10.1 million record to a $100 million sale would be unprecedented in the sports memorabilia market. Even the priciest trading card ever sold — a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle — changed hands for $12.6 million in 2022, a fraction of the target Gough has set.
Still, the ingredients for a landmark result are all present: a globally recognized athlete, a championship-defining moment, extreme rarity, and the cultural halo of "The Last Dance." As for whether Jordan himself is following the sale, Gough isn't sure. "Oh man, I have no idea. I wish I had the guy on speed dial," he said, laughing.
Whatever the final hammer price, the auction is already doing what Gough wanted most: putting a piece of basketball history back in front of the public after years locked away in a vault.
The Bottom Line
- Michael Jordan's game-worn Game 3 jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals is up for auction through September 30, 2026.
- Owner Rob Gough predicts it could become the first jersey to sell for $100 million, though Joopiter's estimate is reportedly $10 million to $15 million.
- The current record is $10.1 million, set by Jordan's Game 1 jersey from the same series at Sotheby's in 2022.
- The Bulls won Game 3 by 42 points, the largest blowout in NBA Finals history.
- The auction is hosted by Pharrell Williams' Joopiter under the title "Driven to Greatness."
