Handwritten love letter from Michael Jordan’s high school days hits auction

NEW YORK (WGN) — A series of one-of-a-kind Michael Jordan items are hitting the auction house, including a holy grail autographed basketball card and a handwritten love letter from Jordan’s high school days.

Three Jordan items are being put up for bid at Leland’s Auctions in New York—a 1997 hobby fresh Sign of the Times Stars and Rookies Michael Jordan autographed card, a May 1981 two-page love letter penned to his then-girlfriend Laquetta Robinson, and a 1990-91 Bulls game-worn jersey.

The Sign of the Times Stars & Rookies Michael Jordan card is graded PSA NM 7 Auto 10. Only one such Jordan card is graded higher. It is an extremely scarce card and rarely offered with this bold of an autograph, according to a press release from Leland’s, which also said this Jordan holy grail specimen is the first to hit a public auction since 2021.

As of the publication of this article, 20 bids have been placed on the card and the highest one is at $93,336.

Jordan wrote the love letter to Robinson when he was an 18-year-old senior at Laney High School (LHS) in Wilmington, North Carolina. Jordan and Robinson both attended LHS and he professes his love to her numerous times in the letter. However, Jordan makes clear that Robinson will have to share his love of basketball.

Jordan and Robinson are no longer together. He married his second wife Yvette Prieto—a fashion model for Alexander Wang—in 2013 and the two have been together ever since.

The starting bid for the love letter is $10,000.

The game-worn jersey was determined by MEARS to have been worn during the 1990-91 season and the garment shows terrific signs of use with loose threads evident. The lot will include a Letter of Opinion from MEARS, who graded it as an A10. 1990-91 was the year Jordan won his second of five MVP awards and helped the Chicago Bulls dispatch the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals to earn his first NBA championship.

The current bid for the game-worn jersey is $6,050.

Jordan, often considered the most highly sought-after player in the basketball world when it comes to sports memorabilia, has had numerous high profile items from his career auctioned off over the years.

Jordan’s game-worn jersey from Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Finals, a jersey worn 17 times during the 1996-97 NBA season, and the flag draped over Jordan’s shoulder during the 1992 Olympics medals ceremony to cover the Reebok logo are all items that have gone for millions of dollars at auction.

Jordan’s jersey from the climactic series of the Chicago Bulls’ “Last Dance” fetched $10.1 million from a September 2022 auction held by Sotheby’s, a New York and Chicago-based auction house.

Jordan’s game-worn jersey from the 1996-97 NBA regular season sold for $4.68 million. One of the contests he wore the jersey for included the game where a rookie Allen Iverson crossed Jordan over.

The American flag used to cover the Reebok logo on Jordan’s shoulder during the 1992 Olympics was also a part of the same auction the 1996-97 game-worn jersey was sold in, according to an article in the Chicago Sun-Times.

The flag, which was signed by Jordan and other members of the 1992 Dream Team, went for $1.8 million after 45 total bids were placed.

Countless other rare sports memorabilia items are listed alongside the latest handful of Jordan items up for bid. To take a look at what else is available, visit Leland’s Auctions at https://lelands.com/.