Offered here is one of the most historic Michael Jordan items ever to come up for auction. There are game used jerseys from the regular season, finals, etc., but nothing can be more significant than the first ever jersey presented to arguably the greatest basketball player ever. Coming into the 1984 NBA Draft, the consensus top pick was Hakeem (then spelled Akeem) Olajuwon out of the University of Houston due to his size, scoring touch and dominance. Teams back then typically looked to build around the big man and Olajuwon was the clear choice. In a coin toss between the Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers, the Rockets won the flip. Another big man coming out of college was Kentucky’s Sam Bowie, who was a dominant player when healthy, but being a similar size and skill set of Olajuwon, it was not far-fetched to think that Bowie could be the next pick.

This left Michael Jordan, who had already dazzled at the University of North Carolina with his incredible dunks and highlight reel moves. Playing as a shooting guard/small forward, the question became, can a team build around that kind of “smaller” player. With Chicago sitting at the No. 3 spot in the draft and with Portland already having a similar type player to Jordan on their roster in Clyde Drexler, the Trail Blazers decided on drafting Sam Bowie, which left Jordan sitting there at No. 3. Bulls’ general manager Rod Thorn wasted no time in selecting Jordan, who was not even at the draft due to his participation in the then upcoming summer Olympics in Los Angeles and was in Bloomington, Indiana training with the rest of Team USA.

Jordan and the rest of Team USA, which included stars like Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullen and the late Wayman Tisdale, demolished the competition at the 1984 Olympics, to a tune of an 8-0 record and the gold medal with Jordan leading the way and making it clear he might be the best player of that historic 1984 draft. The tournament ran until August 10th, so Jordan still had not signed a contract yet with the Bulls. Contract negotiations began after the Olympics and on September 12th of 1984, Jordan was signed to the richest contract in Bulls’ history.

After signing this historic contract, Rod Thorn presented Jordan with this very jersey – offered here for auction and displayed by Jordan for all the world to see at his first press conference as a member of the Chicago Bulls. A new era for the Chicago Bulls and the NBA was born. This is an official game jersey. This size 44 mesh jersey was manufactured by Rawlings and has “BULLS” and Jordan’s number “23” heat-pressed in red and black. The back of the jersey has “JORDAN” printed on in red and his number “23” printed on in red and black. The open shoulders and collar are lined with a ribbed material in a red/black/white/black/red pattern. The Rawlings size tag is sewn on the inside back neck. This jersey is still in excellent condition with the letters and numbers still pristine with no chipping or fading. This is a once-in-a-lifetime jersey and it has been photo matched to the introductory press conference from September 12th, 1984 by Sports Investors Authentication, who have provided a LOA. The jersey was acquired from our consignor directly from the Bulls and comes with a letter of provenance from a former Bulls Front Office employee.

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