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Almost 26 years to the day when Jordan scored 38 points in
44 minutes while battling food poisoning, the shoes were sold for an incredible
$1.2million more than when ball boy Preston Truman first auctioned them in 2013
for $104,765.
Jordan's display for the Chicago Bulls in Utah against the
Jazz on June 11 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals took on new significance in NBA
folklore thanks to the Netflix series 'The Last Dance'.
The show revealed that Jordan was actually struggling with
food poisoning rather than flu after eating a bad pepperoni pizza the night
before the game.
But the shoes take on an even more intriguing story given
how they made their way to auction.
Jordan and ball boy Truman struck up an unlikely friendship
because he brought the Bulls legend applesauce before the start of a regular
season game in 1995.
Jordan remembered Truman during return trips to Utah
following that day and before the legendary 'flu game', Truman even had the
nerve to ask an unwell Jordan for his shoes after the game.
Truman told the Salt Lake Tribune that before the game, a
visibly unwell Jordan asked him to run will-call tickets for him - a request
that gave him confidence to ask for the shoes.
'Why, you want them?' Jordan asked, according to Truman.
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| Michael Jordan's legendary 'Flu Game' sneakers sold for an astonishing $1.38million this week |
It was claimed that Truman feared Jordan giving the sneakers to Charles Barkley when he visited the locker room after the game.
But Jordan remembered Truman, and signed the shoes for him
while his bodyguard took pictures that served part of the authentication
process for Goldin's sale this week.
In the game itself, Jordan initially struggled to find any
rhythm due to his health and the Bulls trailed 36-20 in the second quarter.
But he dug deep and somehow turned the game around with 38
points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals in one of the all-time
iconic performances in the history of the NBA. The Bulls won the game 90-88.
When Truman sold the shoes in 2013 at age 35, he was working
as a salesman for Go Wireless.
I'm 35, and 40's just right around the corner, and it seems
like time goes by faster the older you get,' he said. 'Maybe it's just time to
get those things out there.'
The $1.38m figure, while significant, is still short of the
all-time record for a shoe - and that crown also belongs to Jordan.
The Air Jordans he wore in Game 2 of the 1998 Finals - a
'Last Dance' final - sold for a sensational £2.238m in April this year.