It became one of the many iconic moments in Michael Jordan’s storied basketball career, and has been immortalised in trainer culture since. It was in Trieste, Italy back in the summer of 1985 that a young MJ hit a slam dunk so hard during an exhibition game that it literally smashed the glass backboard to smithereens. And it was in that moment the Nike Air Jordan 1 ‘Shattered Backboard’ sneakers were born.
Now, 35 years later, the originals could be yours. Well, a part of them at least. Valued at a mind-boggling $700,000 (that’s £522,000!) you could buy shares in the famous kicks for as little as just £7.50. Just imagine owning a piece of such sporting history. Having sold at a Christie’s auction for £460,000, the pair of trainers are available for investment through purveyors of ‘cultural assets’ Otis.
The size 13-and-a-halves even feature small pieces of glass in the sole of the left trainer - how’s that for authenticity? As well, they have been photo-matched by James Spencer, a leading authentication service, who have paired them with 30 images.
The Otis app allows buyers to sell their shares, or you’ll simply receive cash if the company sells the shoe entirely. While the Air Jordan brand is worth more than ten billion dollars, according to Forbes, NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan himself has reportedly been paid over a billion by Nike since signing the deal four decades ago. The superstar’s popularity has also soared among the younger generation courtesy of The Last Dance documentary which aired on ESPN and Netflix so anything to do with MJ, particularly something so historic, makes for a wise investment indeed.
“The ‘Shattered Backboard’ Jordan is a unique, one-out-of-one grail sneaker. It is an artifact from a top five Jordan moment — the shattering of the backboard,” Otis say on their website.
“We are excited by the market trajectory of these sneakers as game worn Jordan memorabilia continues to break pricing records. Just this year, two MJ game-worn sneakers broke all-time high pricing records at $560,000 and $615,000 (Otis ultimately acquired this pair for this drop) - we believe the market for game worn sneakers will only continue to grow and continue to break records.”
