Winter Auction 2016 Closing January 30th
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/31/2016
"I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty six times, I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." That confession was spoken by a man who is arguably the greatest athlete of all time, a man whose very presence, ability, gravity-defying agility – and resultant dominance – became known around the globe as simply, "Michael." Flaunting his talents in a city starved for victory, MJ was the force behind Chicago Bulls' World Championship squads in 1991, 1992 and 1993. Spoiled by the three successive titles (just one less than the city's baseball teams had collectively achieved in their 200-plus-year history), Bulls fans suffered a collective shock when Jordan announced his sudden retirement shortly after the latter championship. But a two-year hiatus was more than Jordan (not to mention the dethroned Bulls) could stand. Having returned for 17 games of the 1994-95 season, Jordan was back with a vengeance – as was his team – the following year, touching off a "re-peat" of their "three-peat" in which he was perhaps even more of a catalyst than he had been during the first go-round. The 1998 postseason run saw the Bulls dispose of New Jersey, Charlotte and Indiana before a six-game triumph over the Utah Jazz produced championship banner No. 6 for display at the United Center. Lauded as the League MVP (for the fifth time) for his efforts that season, Jordan again called it quits – and again was to later come out of hibernation, this time three years later to toil in a front-office/player capacity for the Wizards. In a vain attempt to feed his insatiable appetite for the white-hot spotlight, intense competition and championship laurels (especially the first two of those), Jordan's legacy was somewhat diminished by his "new" venture, whose blueprints never came remotely close to fruition. And from that interval comes the offered ensemble: a Chicago Bulls uniform donned by "His Airness" during his last campaign on Madison Street. One of likely just two or three such sets issued to the hoops icon that season, this road attire consists of red mesh shorts and a like-colored pullover jersey, which boasts "BULLS" and "JORDAN" respectively arched across the front and back in black-on-white tackle twill. Jordan's famed number "23" is applied to both sides in like fashion. The neck and sleeve openings are of red-white-and-black, tri-striped elastic and sewn upon the left shoulder is an NBA silhouette patch. Properly tagged, the garment features a "NIKE" (size) "50" label on the left front tail, flanking "NBA" and "BULLS" tags and a flop tag denoting "LENGTH +4." The shorts feature a red-white-and-black elastic waistband and the team's snarling bull logo sewn to the side of each leg. The "NIKE" (size) "42" tag within the waistband has a black-marker inscription of "23" and accompanying flop tags respectively reading "INSEAM +3," and "1997-98." The uniform reveals evidence of moderate use and shows no repairs or alterations of any kind. Both items have been authenticated, and the Complete Uniform has been graded A8 by MEARS.