A rare Michael Jordan rookie card, complete with a Chicago Bulls team set, will hit the auction block at Heritage Auctions on Friday, January 24, the multi-national auction house informed TMZ Sports on Saturday. Bidding begins Friday, January 3.
The 1984 Star Co. Michael Jordan rookie card is in “near mint condition” with an 8.5 PSA grade
For the best part, Jordan’s rookie card is expected to sell for nearly half a million dollars. A spokesperson for Heritage Auctions said bidding could reach $400,000 for the 12-card lot.
“The 1984 Star Co. Michael Jordan card #101 is the G.O.A.T. NBA player’s true rookie card and one of the earliest and most significant cards of the basketball legend, predating his more famous 1986 Fleer rookie card,” the description reads.
“As part of the Star Company’s 1984 set, this card features Michael Jordan during his rookie season with the Chicago Bulls, capturing the beginning of his storied NBA career.”
According to Heritage Auctions, the Michael Jordan card is graded PSA NM-MT+ 8.5. After more than 400 submissions, the NM-MT+beauty represents only 1% of the overall PSA population with three higher.
Star Co.’s design features a clean red border that complements the Bulls’ color scheme and a white background, which highlights Jordan’s figure. This card was also produced during Jordan’s actual rookie season, making it one of his earliest collectibles.
Rookie card has slight edge wear, minor centering issues
Additionally, the Michael Jordan card is in near mint plus condition, indicating minimal signs of wear. This particular card has sharp corners, decent centering, and bright colors, but there might be some minor imperfections such as slight edge wear or minor centering issues that prevent it from achieving a higher grade.
Despite its couple of flaws, the Jordan card is still highly coveted because of its rarity and historical significance as an early memorabilia item of the Hall of Famer and former six-time NBA champion.
The Bulls selected Jordan third overall in the 1984 NBA draft out of UNC. In a full 82-game season (all starts) of his rookie 1984-85 campaign, he averaged 28.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 2.4 steals, and 38.3 minutes per contest while shooting 51.5% from the field, 17.3% from 3-point territory, and 84.5% at the free throw line.
Jordan’s incredible performances earned him his first All-Star selection, lone All-NBA Second-Team honor, and NBA Rookie of the Year. His Airness also placed sixth in MVP voting, finishing behind Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Moses Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Terry Cummings.
More importantly, Jordan helped the Bulls improve from 27-55 to 38-44 and qualify for the postseason for the first time since the 1980-81 season. However, the Bulls lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in four games of their first-round playoff series.
