The 1984 U.S. Men’s Basketball team was USA’s last amateur squad to win an Olympic gold medal and is largely considered the best amateur basketball team ever assembled. Led by future Hall of Famers Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin, and coached by the great Bobby Knight, this exceptionally talented group of twelve young men put on quite a show in Los Angeles at the 1984 Summer Games, going a perfect 8-0 and winning by an average of 30+ points. It was a level of domination not seen until eight years later in Barcelona when the 1992 Dream Team—with Jordan, Ewing and Mullin in their NBA prime—officially “professionalized” basketball at the Olympics.
SCP Auctions is proud to feature yet another sacred artifact from Michael Jordan’s legendary playing career: one of only two pairs of Converse sneakers he wore during the 1984 Olympic Tournament held at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. No, you are not experiencing Déjà vu. This is a different pair from MJ’s Olympic Finals pair that sold for a record $190,372 in June. That pair was gifted to Gail Goodrich’s son, who served as a ball boy. This pair was given to the other ball boy who worked alongside him, and the two remain good friends to this day. Thus, these special sneakers are the second-to-last pair Jordan wore in competition as an amateur and represent one of his crowning athletic achievements. The 21-year-old, baby-faced Jordan led USA in scoring at 17.1 points per game during the ’84 Games. USA’s 96-65 victory over Spain in the gold medal game, in which Jordan scored a game-high 20 points, would be the last time he was ever seen wearing Converse. A certain 4-letter brand based in Oregon would soon take hold of MJ's services and the rest is history.
The white and navy blue trimmed Converse sneakers have a mid-top design using sailcloth canvas and leather material. The navy blue Converse star logo appears on both sides and again on the upper heels. The size 13 and manufacturer codes are stamped on the interior. The original white laces and Converse insoles are present. The shoes are properly tagged and very well-preserved with all structural components perfectly intact. They display appropriate game use with evident heel drag, leather creasing at the ankles and light soiling around the outer heels. Jordan’s pre-NBA era black Sharpie autographs on the outer ankle of each shoe rate 6-7/10 in our opinion, with slight bleeding into the sailcloth panels. Overall, this pair presents aesthetically better than the gold medal pair, which showed more scuffing, more off-white/cream fading, and were not uniformly dual-signed (right shoe was signed on inner ankle).
A detailed letter of provenance from the ball boy, who wishes to remain anonymous to the public, is included. He got the gig from Lakers great Gail Goodrich, who oversaw game operations at The Forum for the tournament, and worked nearly every USA game. The fortunate 14-year-old (pictured) and Goodrich’s son procured their respective pairs straight from Jordan after the Olympic Finals in the locker room where he signed each pair in person. Goodrich’s son has confirmed the accuracy of this account 100%.
LOA from Steve Grad of Beckett Authentication (autos.).