The owner of Michael Jordan’s Game 3 1998 NBA Finals jersey has predicted it could fetch a jaw-dropping $100 million — shattering the record for the most expensive piece of game-worn sports memorabilia ever sold.
Sports investor and actor Rob Gough is selling the one-of-a-kind white, game-winning jersey four years after he purchased it, The Post can exclusively reveal.
“I think this will be the first jersey to hit $100 million,” he said.
In Game 3, the Bulls beat the Jazz by 42 points, the record for the biggest blowout in NBA Finals history. AFP via Getty Images
The Post revealed the owner of Michael Jordan’s Game 3 1998 NBA Finals jersey is sports investor and actor Rob Gough. Courtesy of Joopiter
Gough went on a “wild treasure hunt” to get his hands on the jersey — from Jordan’s “The Last Dance” season when he won his sixth and final championship with the Chicago Bulls.
The Indiana native said he went on the quest because he always looks “for pieces that sit at the intersection of the greatest athlete, the greatest stage and a defining moment.”
“It’s not like I knew where it was or it was easy to find … this person led to this person, which led to the other person,” he added.
“Unfortunately I never got to the actual owner of the jersey, I got to a middle man who probably made millions of dollars [off the sale].”
Gough, 42, never found out who the original owner was and had to sign an NDA in the deal, so is unable to disclose how much he paid for jersey — which he displayed at his house in Puerto Rico for two years before he put it in a vault to keep it safe.
The jersey was worn by Jordan during Game 3 of the 1998 NBA Finals. Courtesy of Joopiter
“It’s interesting, because I have a lot of great art. And when people come to the house, they skip right over the art and go right to the jersey,” he said.
“That’s when I realized that this stuff is the new modern art.”
He decided to part with the jersey — being sold by Pharrell Williams’ auction house Joopiter starting on Sept. 15 — after realizing it was not being fully appreciated.
Gough, 42, had the jersey displayed in his home for two years before he put it in a vault. Courtesy of Rob Gough
“You’re a steward of these iconic pieces of history. When I had it in the house, it was tremendous. But when it was in the vault … what’s the point of being a steward of something if you’re not gonna let people see it and enjoy it?” Gough said.
Jordan’s jersey from Game 1 of the ’98 Finals currently holds the record for highest sale at an auction, having fetched $10.1 million in 2022 at Sotheby’s.
“He lost Game 1 … I don’t personally buy games where a guy loses because you’re saying, ‘That jersey on the wall, remember when Michael Jordan lost that game?’ You just don’t say that,” Gough said.
In Game 3, the Bulls beat the Utah Jazz by 42 points, setting the record for the biggest blowout in NBA Finals history.
Gough, who recently purchased the Miami-based World Jai Alai League, made a name for himself in the collectibles industry after buying a rare 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card for a then-record $5.2 million in 2021.
“No one knows that I actually sold [the card] for eight figures,” he said. “So this [jersey sale] would be the second at-least-eight-figure transaction.”
The avid sports collector, who also owns the jerseys of GOATs like Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, Tom Brady and Wayne Gretzky, said he’s unsure if Jordan is following the history-making sale.
“Oh man, I have no idea. I wish I had the guy on speed dial,” he said, laughing.
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