A pair of Air Jordan 1s just sold for over half a million dollars at auction as the prices for the athlete's sneakers surge

• A rare pair of Michael Jordan's 1985 game-worn autographed Air Jordans just sold for $560,000 at a Sotheby's auction.
• The purchase broke the world record for the highest price for any pair of sneakers sold at auction.
• The auction coincided with the release of the final episode of the Michael Jordan ESPN documentary, "The Last Dance," the launch of which has been correlated with skyrocketing prices on valuable Air Jordan sneakers.
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As the hype for Michael Jordan merchandise surges, a rare pair of the athlete's sneakers just sold for over half a million dollars at an auction.

Michael Jordan's game-worn autographed Nike Air Jordan 1s from 1985 sold at a Sotheby's auction on Sunday for $560,000. The sale broke the world record for the highest price of any pair of sneakers sold at auction, which was previously set with the purchase of rare the Nike Waffle Racing Flat "Moon Shoe" for $437,500 at another Sotheby's auction in July.

The sneakers fetched more than three times the anticipated value in an online bidding war that included people across four continents.

The sneakers feature the iconic red, black, and white "Chicago" colorway, which is one of the more popular color-silhouette combinations of the Air Jordan line. The sneakers feature a fair amount of visible wear with the athlete's signature etched in black marker on the side of the right shoe, which is a size 13.5. The left shoe is a size 13—Jordan wore slightly different sized shoes.

The historic sneaker sale coincided with the finale of the 10-part Michael Jordan ESPN documentary, "The Last Dance." The release of the 10-part documentary series, which follows NBA legend Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls during the 1997–98 season, has been correlated with skyrocketing prices for valuable Air Jordan sneakers. Since the launch of the series in April, luxury consignment platform The RealReal reported a 53% week over week increase in the average selling price for Jordan sneakers.

"I think seeing all the footage of Michael Jordan wearing the shoes refreshes everybody's memory of how good they looked on his feet on the court," said Zack Schlemmer, content manager at resale platform Stadium Goods. "And for the younger generation that never saw him play, it may be their first glimpse of the retros they've been wearing being used for their original purpose."

After signing with Nike in 1984, Jordan went on to be the face of one of the most celebrated athlete-endorsed brands of all time. The pair of Air Jordans 1s sold at auction were regularly worn by Jordan on the court as the sneaker line started to take off.

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