Michael Jordan’s ‘flu game’ Nike Air Jordan shoes sell for $104,000

Holy Nikes! A former Utah Jazz ball boy who was given Michael Jordan’s shoes after the famous “flu game” in the 1997 NBA Finals has sold the pair for more than $104,000 in an online auction.

Preston Truman reportedly asked Jordan for his Nike Air Jordan XII shoes after he led the Chicago Bulls to a 90-88 victory in Game 5 by scoring 38 points while suffering from flu symptoms. Jordan signed them and Truman kept the shoes in a safe deposit box until putting them up for auction this fall.

Truman was offered $11,000 by a memorabilia collector in 1998 but chose to wait 15 years before going to Grey Flannel Auction of Westhampton, N.Y., to hold online bidding, which started at $5,000.

The bid winner, who offered $104,765, was not identified. Michael Russek, operations director for Grey Flannel, said it was a record purchase for a pair of game-worn shoes, easily topping a previous purchase of Air Jordans from Jordan’s rookie season through another auction house for more than $31,000.

“He has no crazy plans other than paying off his college tuition,” Russek said of Truman.

The story goes that Jordan befriended Truman, who told the Salt Lake Tribune that the superstar had issued a pregame warning before a regular-season game in 1996: “There will be no autographs for ball boys after the game if I don’t get my applesauce.”

Thurman came through with the goods and Jordan later came through with the “flu game” autograph.

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Internet reports contributed to this story.