Converse sneakers worn, signed by Michael Jordan as UNC freshman up for auction

A pair of shoes worn by — and signed by — none other than Michael Jordan as a UNC freshman are up for auction.

With the current bid currently at $45,000, the pair of high-top Converse sneakers worn during Jordan’s storied freshman season from 1981 to ’82 are being auctioned off to benefit the University of North Carolina basketball program.

The 40-year-old white and Carolina blue kicks look worn, with some dirt on the soles. And while the shoes seem to be in decent condition, the knotted shoelaces have frayed.

The shoes were gifted by the legendary MJ to Chuck Duckett, the 1982 team manager who is a personal friend of Jordan’s. Duckett put them up for auction online on the Heritage Auctions website last week.

Duckett, a UNC trustee from 2013 to 2021, will donate 50% of the auction proceeds to the UNC basketball program. The auction ends Sunday, Aug. 28.

While Duckett met up with his old friend earlier this year at the 40th year reunion of the 1982 UNC Championship team, he showed Jordan a photo of the pair of his old sneakers.

“He said, ‘Those are worth a lot of money,’” Duckett said in an interview with The News & Observer. “I said well, ‘I’ve never really though about that. Do you want them back?’”

Jordan, now a majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets, laughed and said no, Duckett recalled, and suggested he should sell them.

“I said, ‘Why don’t we put them up for auction and donate half to UNC basketball?’” Duckett said. “He was very excited to raise money for the basketball program.”

How high will the price go? A pair of aged Air Jordan sneakers worn during his 1984-’85 season with the Chicago Bulls sold in an auction for $420,000 last June.

History of the shoes

Jordan’s Converses were worn during his freshman season, which ended memorably with Jordan scoring an epic game-winning, picture-perfect jump shot that resulted in a 63-62 victory in an NCAA championship game against Georgetown University that included Patrick Ewing among its roster.

Jordan wore them among several that he and other players were issued — likely around 10 pairs each season — and also wore them while walking on UNC’s campus, according to Duckett.

“Michael liked shoes,” Duckett recalled. “He really liked shoes, and he liked them to be nice. He always has, and he still does. As a freshman, nobody had any money so you wore whatever was free.”

The Tar Heels didn’t receive nearly as many shoes during a season as college players do now, which Duckett believes is now around 20 to 30 pairs a year.

“Jordan’s excited about the auction and thinks it’s cool, because like me, he believes they could have been the first pair that was issued,” Duckett said.

Duckett is almost certain the shoes for sale were one of two pairs worn in Jordan’s first game as a freshman in Charlotte against the Kansas Jayhawks on Nov. 28, 1981.

“I’m pretty dadgum sure of that,” Duckett insists. “But I couldn’t swear and tell you that’s absolutely the case, ‘cause he might have worn the other pair.”

‘Stroke of luck’

Duckett’s sister-in-law, Mary Eliza Duckett, kept the shoes in her High Point home for over 30 years after Chuck Duckett gave them to her.

“It’s a stroke of luck that she held onto them so long,” Duckett said.

Mr. Air Jordan made sure of the shoes’ authenticity. Duckett mailed them to his home in Jupiter, Fla., to verify that they were his and so that he could personally sign both shoes with his name and a simple message: “Best wishes.”

The shoes’ interior ankles show the size “12 1/2” markings correct for Jordan in his collegiate years. His feet would swell up in size as he gained weight and suffered an early professional ankle injury, according to a description of the auction item. The number “23” was written in marker at interior of each tongue tag.

Jordan wore Converse his entire college career before UNC started issuing Nikes in the 1990s.

The Duckett family will receive half of the auction’s proceeds, part of which will be donated to charities, he said.

“Any money raised from this is good,” Duckett said. “Most people laughed and said to (my sister-in-law), ‘Why don’t you throw this stuff away? I’m glad she didn’t.”