Michael Jordan 1988 – 1989 Chicago Bulls Game Worn Uniform | Jersey Matched from January of 1989 to June of 1989 including the 1989 NBA Playoffs | ‘Scoring Title’ Season | Jersey Matched to 10 Games Including 53 Point Season-High Performance | Shorts Matched to 7 Games | Jersey Matched to 3 50-Point Games

Sold by The Chicago Bulls,

Property of a Private Institution

Michael Jordan game worn uniforms from the 1980s are unicorns, very rarely seen in the market with scant having ever been made available. This example, worn over an extraordinary seven-month stretch of the 1988-89 NBA season, has been extensively photomatched by Sports Investors Authentication, and MeiGray. 

There is a common misconception about the rarity of Michael Jordan jerseys prior to the 1997-1998 season. In Michael’s last season, the Bulls realized that they could commercialize his jerseys for charity and as such, there are a number of 1997 – 1998 jerseys that have surfaced throughout the years.

At the time of cataloging, MeiGray, has authenticated 25 game worn jerseys from the 1997-1998 season, with 20 of those jerseys being used for just a single game.

In the 12 seasons prior to 1997-1998, MeiGray has examined 130 jerseys purported to be worn by Michael Jordan, however, at the time of cataloging only 4 jerseys have proven to be authentic. This demonstrates the extreme level of rarity for reliably photomatched Michael Jordan jerseys from the 1984-1997 period.

The population of pre-‘Last Dance’ jerseys is remarkably slim – with a single-game jersey from these seasons emerging here-and-there. The reality is that Michael would often wear a single jersey for huge swaths of time during these periods, making them exceptionally rare and coveted.

This is perhaps the finest Home-White Michael Jordan uniform that has ever come to market.

The Moments

The Jordan Rules: Bad Boy Pistons 

Although it took seven seasons for Michael Jordan to reach the NBA mountaintop, a number of his playoff foes had recognized the incredible talent that was being brought to bear by Air Jordan well before then. After Jordan scored 63 in a double-overtime loss at Boston Garden in the 1986 NBA Playoffs, Larry Bird famously complimented him, saying “It’s just God disguised as Michael Jordan.”

Where Larry Legend honored Jordan with words, the Detroit Pistons bestowed a different type of honor on Jordan: an eponymous defensive scheme. Named the Jordan Rules, the “Bad Boy” Pistons sought to make Jordan’s life on the court as miserable as possible. Jordan was double teamed constantly and if he did make it past his defender and into the lane, Pistons were under instructions to “nail him.” This physicality proved effective as well as divisive, as the Pistons defeated the Jordan-led Bulls in the 1988 Eastern Conference Semifinals 4-1.

The next season, Jordan and the Bulls sought revenge. After upsetting the Cavaliers on the back of Jordan’s famous shot over Craig Ehlo, the Bulls dispatched the Knicks on their way to the Eastern Conference Finals. There, they met the Detroit Pistons again. Initially, it seemed that the Bulls had broken the Jordan Rules, taking two of the first three games of the series behind Jordan’s 105 points (including 46 in Game 3, which this jersey is an apparent match for). However, the Pistons would re-assert themselves. The Pistons won the next three to take the series in six games. Michael Jordan played Game 6 in this jersey, and in footage shown in The Last Dance Jordan can be seen walking off the floor in this jersey. He had just finished shaking hands with the victorious Pistons in a moment of true sportsmanship in the face of what was his most crushing defeat to date. The Pistons would go on to win the 1989 Finals, however the Eastern Conference Finals between the Bulls and Pistons had made one thing abundantly clear: Jordan had found his first true NBA rival, and it was a rivalry set to dominate the narrative landscape of the NBA for years to come.  

Jordan would face the Pistons again in 1990, and again he and the Bulls would fall to the Pistons in the Conference Finals, however it took the Pistons seven games this time around. By this point though, Michael had become the bona fide face of the NBA. He was releasing made-for-video productions like Michael Jordan’s Playground that highlighted moments from his previous seasons, including moments that this jersey accompanied him for such as the 1989 Eastern Conference Finals. Jordan broke through and swept the Pistons in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals. After finally vanquishing his toughest rival, Jordan expected to be able to shake the hands of the Pistons before moving on to his first Championship. However, the Piston starters famously walked off the floor with about eight seconds to go, denying Jordan the respect of a competitor and adding a level of animus to the rivalry that persists to this day. 

50-Point Games

1988-89 saw Michael Jordan put on dazzling scoring displays. He achieved 50 points in an incredible five games over the course of the regular season, the second highest single-season total in his career. On January 21, 1989, Jordan and the Bulls faced the Phoenix Suns in Chicago. While the eventual third seed Phoenix Suns would leave with the victory, Jordan put on an incredible individual exhibition. Jordan finished with a season-high 53 points (in this jersey) without a single three-point attempt, season-high 14 rebounds, and eight assists despite accounting for about half of the Bulls scoring output by himself. 

Less than a month later, Jordan put on another incredible display, this time in an intense divisional rivalry. On February 16, 1989, the Bucks came to Chicago. Less than five games separated the divisional rivals entering play, and with all eyes on the playoff picture the stakes were high. Jordan delivered a punishing 50 points on 62 percent shooting in this jersey. The Bulls would need every point, winning a thriller 117-116. Amidst one of his best scoring seasons, this jersey witnessed Jordan at the peak of his powers. 

The Games

The 1988-1989 season was a significant one for Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in multiple ways. Jordan was coming off winning his first MVP award and the 1988Defensive Player of the Year Award for the first and only time of his career while Scottie Pippen was entering his second season in the league. In 1989, Jordan earned his third straight scoring title with a blistering 32.5 points per game average, was named to his fifth consecutive All-Star Game, his third straight All-NBA First Team as well as his second straight All-NBA Defensive First Team while leading the 6th seed Chicago Bulls to their first Conference Finals berth in more than a decade and their first since becoming an Eastern Conference team in 1980. Many of the matches are to undated photographs, as photographers often would not date their images in this era, however it is possible that this is the only home jersey worn by Michael Jordan during the 1988-89 season. In conversations with Sports Investors Authenticated, they were not able to find an image of Michael Jordan at Home during the 1988-1989 season not in this jersey. 

MeiGray Authenticated and Sports Investors Authenticated have collectively photomatched Michael Jordan wearing this jersey to the following games. For details regarding which authenticator matched the jersey to each particular game, please refer to the letters included in the lot photos.

• January 13, 1989, versus the Denver Nuggets - A Triple-Double with 38 points, 11 assists, and 12 rebounds in 46 minutes
• January 17, 1989, versus the Indiana Pacers - A Double-Double with 22 points and 13 assists in 44 minutes
• January 21, 1989, versus the Phoenix Suns - A Double-Double with 53 points and 14 rebounds in 41 minutes
• February 16, 1989, versus the Milwaukee Bucks - 50 points in 40 minutes
• May 5, 1989, Game 4 of the 1989 Eastern Conference First Round Series verus the Cleveland Cavaliers - 50 points in 43 minutes
• June 2, 1989, Game 6 of the 1989 Eastern Conference Finals versus the Detroit Pistons - A Double-Double with 32 points and 13 rebounds in 42 minutes
• 1 undated game versus the Milwaukee Bucks
• 1 undated game versus the Cleveland Cavaliers
• 1 undated versus versus the Boston Celtics
• 1 undated playoff game in the 1989 Eastern Conference Semifinals versus the New York Knicks
• Photo Day (pictured with Phil Jackson)

Sports Investors Authentication photomatched Michael Jordan wearing these shorts during the following games:

• December 10, 1988 versus the Miami Heat - A Double-Double with 38 points and 11 rebounds in 37 minutes
• December 20, 1988 versus the Los Angeles Lakers - 42 points in 39 minutes
• December 29, 1988 versus the New York Knicks - 37 points in 40 minutes
• May 5, 1989, Game 4 of the Eastern Conference First Round Series versus the Cleveland Cavaliers - 50 points in 43 minutes
• June 2, 1989, Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals versus the Detroit Pistons - A Double-Double with 32 points and 13 rebounds in 42 minutes
• 1 undated game versus the Milwaukee Bucks
• 1 undated game versus the Charlotte Hornets

The jersey is also an apparent match to the following games according to SIA:

• December 10, 1988 versus the Miami Heat
• December 20, 1988 versus the Los Angeles Lakers 
• May 3, 1989 - Game 3 of the 1989 Eastern Conference First Round Series versus the Cleveland Cavaliers 
• May 19, 1989 - Game 6 of the 1989 Eastern Conference Semifinals versus the New York Knicks
• 5/27/89 - Game 3 of the 1989 Eastern Conference Finals versus the Detroit Pistons
• 1 undated game versus the Philadelphia 76ers
• 1 undated game versus the Detroit Pistons
• 1 undated game versus the Charlotte Hornets 
• Sports Illustrated November 6, 1989 Issue

The shorts are an apparent match to the following games according to SIA:



• January 21, 1989 versus the Phoenix Suns
• May 3, 1989 - Game 3 of the 1989 Eastern Conference First Round Series versus the Cleveland Cavaliers 
• May 19, 1989 - Game 6 of the 1989 Eastern Conference Semifinals versus the New York Knicks 
• 1 undated game versus the Boston Celtics
• 1 undated game versus the Charlotte Hornets
• 1 undated playoff game versus the Cleveland Cavaliers
• 1 undated playoff game versus the Detroit Pistons