The jacket that Michael Jordan reluctantly wore during his Olympic gold medal has been in the possession of Brian McIntyre for over three decades now.
He feels the time is right to let someone else enjoy it.
The red, white and blue Reebok jacket that Jordan – a Nike athlete – was to wear will be displayed on the medal podium along with other members of USA Basketball’s first “Dream Team” at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Sotheby’s, which has the show that will run until the 28th, estimates June, that the cover could sell for anywhere from $1 million to $3 million.
“I enjoyed it and it’s the right time to do it,” McIntyre said. “And it’s easier to do than to leave things to my children.”
McIntyre said Jordan was aware of the decision to auction the jacket.
McIntyre was with Barcelona’s Dream Team through his role with the NBA. He joined the league’s communications department in 1981 and stepped aside in an advisory role to then-commissioner David Stern in 2010. Part of his job, outside of overseeing public relations on all major NBA events, was to assist with other major events with the NBA. players – including world championships and olympics.
That’s why McIntyre was at Barcelona working with the players. The United States Olympic Committee sent out word that Jordan must wear full athletic uniform on the medal stand, and Jordan complied—with one amendment. At the ceremony where the Americans received their gold medals, he placed an American flag on his shoulder to disguise the Reebok logo.
As Jordan exited the medal stand, he took off the jacket and tossed it aside, then gifted it to McIntyre.
“He said, ‘I certainly don’t want to,'” McIntyre said.
So, McIntyre took it. He brought the jacket—which features a patch that read, “Reebok is proud to honor the best of America”—to Jordan at an event when the NBA legend was converting to baseball in 1994, thinking Jordan would order it again.
Instead, Jordan signed it: “To Brian, thanks for everything, Michael Jordan.”
McIntyre kept it for the last 29 years, and wore it occasionally. The jacket and Jordan’s reluctance to wear it was a big story in Barcelona and became a talking point again when the documentary “The Last Dance” retold part of the story with a voice over from Jordan in 1992 revealing his frustration with the situation.
However, anything related to that team and those Olympics has clear historical value. It was the first time the NBA had sent its players to the Olympics, and the game was changed forever.
“We watched the ’92 Olympics ‘Dream Team’ rush forward with the growth of basketball so much,” McIntyre said. “I mean, I really helped advance the game around the world — not just for the NBA, but for basketball in general.”
The auction is being offered online by Sotheby’s and will be showing the jacket in New York from June 24-28.
“To be able to sell such relics from a world-historic event like this — an event often credited with multiplying basketball’s popularity and global reach — is rare and unparalleled,” said Brahm Wachter, head of streetwear and novelty collectibles at Sotheby’s. “Besides its legendary place in Olympic history, the jacket represents Michael Jordan’s fierce and loyal loyalty to Nike, a transformative and revolutionary partnership between two powers that has stood the test of time.”
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