The Michael Jordan memorabilia market hit a new benchmark on Saturday, when a 2003 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection Michael Jordan Signed Logoman was auctioned off for $2,928,000 through Goldin.

As this story from Front Office Sports lays out, the card sale is just the latest in a run of Jordan-related items that have set records in the memorabilia market for one of the greatest basketball players of all time.

“For a century, Babe Ruth has been the leading athlete in terms of value in … baseball and pretty much in all of sports,” Leila Dunbar, a sports memorabilia appraiser for Antiques Roadshow, told Front Office Sports. “Jordan is pretty much the first athlete to come up to a level near Ruth.”

What’s behind the surge in Jordan memorabilia market? Industry experts quoted in the story offer a few theories:

• The Last Dance effect: With no live sports to watch during the early stages of the pandemic, viewers tuned into ESPN’s five-week, 10-part documentary about Jordan. Two days before the documentary’s finale, a pair of Jordan’s game-worn and signed Air Jordan 1s from his rookie season went for $560,000 at Sotheby’s. That set the world auction record for sneakers — only to be broken a few months later by a pair of game-worn Air Jordan 1s from an exhibition game in Italy that went for $615,000 in a Christie’s auction.
• Timing: Jordan fans who grew up idolizing the Bulls star when they were children are now adult collectors with means to purchase a piece of history.
• Safe investment: Jordan, 61, is decades removed from his playing days and has kept his image clean, a good sign that Jordan memorabilia won’t experience a sharp decline in value.

What’s one piece of Jordan memorabilia you’d love to own?