Michael Jordan Sports Illustrated Sets Record as Most Expensive Magazine Ever

Michael Jordan has appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated 50 times, more than any other athlete in history, with his debut coming on Nov. 28, 1983.

Jordan’s debut cover, which features him pictured alongside North Carolina teammate Sam Perkins, declaring the Tar Heels the No. 1-ranked team in the magazine’s college basketball preview for the 1983-84 season, is now considered the most expensive magazine of all time.

A copy of the magazine, graded a 9.6 by PSA, sold for $229,360 in a Goldin Auction online auction on Saturday.

Grading The Magazine

Ungraded copies of the magazine (both newsstand issues and those with the subscription mailing label affixed to the cover) sold on eBay earlier in March for $100-$200. Still, what sets the copy Goldin auctioned off apart is its condition.

PSA, which officially launched its comic book and magazine grading services in July 2025, considers a 9.6-graded book to be “Near Mint+” condition. According to PSA’s grading scale, a 9.6-graded magazine, “will have sharp corners but can have very minimal wear, minor spine stress with a few color breaks, scuffs, or perhaps very minor edge or tiny corner wear. Excellent gloss (if the book was manufactured with a glossy surface) and deep colors. Paper is supple and most often ‘like new,’ although page quality can fall in a range of cream/off-white to white.”

With just about everything else in the collectibles space associated with Jordan, it would be a surprise if someone other than the six-time NBA champion and six-time NBA Finals MVP held a record for the highest sale.

The Michael Jordan Impact

Jordan anchors two of the four all-time high sports card sales. A 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Dual Logoman Autograph of Jordan and Kobe Bryant sold for $12.9 million on Aug. 23, 2025, which preceded the $10 million sale of a 2006-07 Upper Deck Exquisite Dual Logoman Autograph of Jordan and LeBron James.

The Chicago Bulls jersey Jordan wore during the 1998 NBA Finals sold for $10.1 million at a Sotheby's auction in 2022, which set a record for the most expensive basketball jersey. In May 2025, a game-worn Jordan jersey from the 1992-93 season, which was photo-matched to Jordan's appearance on the Oct. 18, 1993, cover of Sports Illustrated, sold for $2.6 million through Heritage Auctions.

In February 2024, Sotheby’s auctioned off a collection of game-worn, autographed shoes from each of Jordan’s six championship-clinching victories. Dubbed “The Dynasty Collection,” the shoes sold for $8 million.