Long before Air Jordans, long before Michael Jordan was the face of Nike shoes, he wore a pair of Carolina blue Converse during college. At an auction Thursday morning, a pair of those game-used shoes sold for $33,387. The bidder asked to remain anonymous.
Jordan wore Converse throughout his days at North Carolina because, at the time, the company was paying UNC coach Dean Smith about $10,000 a year to have his players wear its shoes. Converse made a pitch to Jordan when he turned pro after the 1984 Olympics, but its $100,000 a year offer fell $400,000 short of Nike’s deal. The rest is history. Nike’s Jordan brand sells more than $2.5 billion worth of sneakers annually.
I’ll never understand the obscene amounts people pay for sports memorabilia. At that same auction someone bought a Joe Dimaggio hat for $151k. Seriously. Why? Just so you can show your friends an old looking hat in your man cave?
Ok, congrats man. Have fun with that.
