Michael Jordan Logoman card breaks record: What is the most expensive NBA card?

A Michael Jordan Logoman card from the 2003-04 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection was sold for $2.928 million on Saturday night, becoming the most expensive card featuring Jordan ever sold.

The card, numbered 1-of-1, features the NBA logo patch cut from Jordan’s game-worn jersey and has been signed by the man himself. This rare card was the first featuring Jordan to include a snippet from a Chicago Bulls jersey. The long-lost Jordan Logoman card surfaced in 2022 when it was graded as a perfect 10 from card graders PSA.

“Words can simply not express the historical significance and the importance of this card,” said Kevin Goldin, founder and CEO of the Goldin collectibles marketplace. “It is, without a doubt, the single best and the single most valuable Michael Jordan card -- and the most sought-after -- that has ever been produced.”

What is the most expensive NBA card of all time?

Jordan is the most celebrated, most marketable and, by most estimates, the greatest basketball player of all time. However he falls some way short of the record for the most expensive NBA card ever sold at auction. Unsurprisingly, most of the priciest cards ever sold come from the Logoman or Patch series, which feature a small section of the player’s game-worn jersey.

Here’s a look at the top five most expensive basketball cards ever sold...

Just below the top five are rookie cards for Giannis Antetokounmpo ($1.81m) and Kobe Bryant ($1.80m).

The most expensive basketball card featuring multiple players is the Topps Scoring Leader card from the 1980/81 NBA season, which includes three of the most famous players of all time. Larry Bird, Julius Erving and Magic Johnson feature on the card, a version of which sold for $840,000 on Goldin in 2021.

Michael Jordan may not have the priciest NBA card but he does boast the most expensive piece of sporting memorabilia ever sold. A match-worn jersey from Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Finals - the iconic ‘Last Dance’ series - was sold for a staggering $10.1 million in September 2022. That sale surpassed the $9.28 million paid earlier that year for Diego Maradona’s jersey from the iconic ‘Hand of God’ Game at the 1986 World Cup.