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How CSG landed a Jordanesque display at The National
ATLANTIC CITY — You could not walk by the CSG booth at the National without stopping in your tracks.
At the entrance to the grading company area was an exhibit so jaw-dropping that it attracted nearly everyone’s attention.
Displayed in a large glass case were six game-worn sneakers from each of Michael Jordan’s six championship-clinching games in the NBA Finals.
Breathtaking was the word most used to describe The Dynasty Collection, one of the most impressive exhibits at the National Sports Collectors Convention.
“It’s extremely impressive. When we were talking to the owner, I just wanted to display just one shoe, just one shoe would be a monumental collectible, but to have one from all six championships, that’s so unique,” said Max Spiegel, president of Certified Collectibles Group, the parent company of CSG.
The owner of the shoes, who wishes to remain anonymous, contacted CSG to have the grading company authenticate the sneakers, Jordan’s autographs and inscriptions and the provenance. The shoes were also photo-matched by an outside company.
“We used our internal expertise, we brought in some outside experts, so here they are,” Spiegel said. “The provenance is impeccable, and then the photo-matching, that seals the deal.”
When Jordan won his first championship in 1991, he famously took off one of his Nike sneakers and gave it to a fan. That started a tradition that continued through his sixth championship in 1998.
“If you look at the poster, you see MJ sitting there with one shoe on and one shoe off. It was a tradition,” Spiegel said. “MJ, like many athletes, is somewhat superstitious, so he gave away one shoe. I don’t know who has the other shoe; I don’t know if MJ has them or threw them out. But once he gave away one, he had to give away another each time he won.”
Jordan’s game-worn sneakers routinely sell for six and even seven figures. A pair of Nike Air Ships from his rookie season sold for a record $1.47 million at Sotheby’s in October of 2021.
“I wish I could speculate,” Spiegel said. “These are so unique, I think if these ever came to auction there would be fierce attention. And I don’t know that the owner would ever even sell them. They are truly one of a kind and to have all six together, that is really special.”
The shoes inside the Jordan exhibit drew heavy traffic to CSG’s booth.
“It’s extremely busy. We had a huge crowd when we were unveiling,” Spiegel said. “People are learning about it … or they just happen across it. It’s been a great driver of people to our booth. … The attention these are getting is just tremendous.”
Spiegel said the shoes had never been displayed before.
“That’s what’s amazing and what’s so cool about bringing them up for display for the first time. I don’t think anybody other than his close friends or relatives have seen them,” he said. “To be able to put them on public display at the biggest show, it’s an honor and really exciting.”
The Jordan sneakers shared center stage with the Topps 1952 Mickey Mantle card expected to break the all-time sports card record and Ken Kendrick’s $100 million card collection at the biggest sports collectibles show of the year. That’s a coup for CSG, a relatively new grading company in the hobby.
“We’re only about a year or a year and a half old. We just graded our one millionth card,” Spiegel said. “Now being able to display this unique collection of shoes, we are doing some exciting things, but I think the best is still yet to come.”
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Jeff Owens is the editor of SCD.
