Original Polaroid of Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan is widely regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time. He attended Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, North Carolina, where he was famously cut from the varsity basketball team before returning the following year and emerging as a standout. Jordan went on to attend the University of North Carolina, where he secured the 1982 NCAA National Championship. He was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the 1984 NBA Draft and would go on to win six NBA Championships between 1991 and 1998. Internationally, he earned two Olympic gold medals—first in 1984 and again in 1992 as a member of the famed “Dream Team.”

This original Type 1 photograph of Michael Jordan was taken circa 1981, a pivotal moment around his transition from high school to collegiate athletics. That year, Jordan graduated from high school and entered the University of North Carolina as a freshman. The image captures a young Jordan smiling confidently at the camera, dressed in a light-colored suit with a dark tie. The photograph was produced using a Polaroid camera, adding to its immediacy and period authenticity.

The photograph has been authenticated and encapsulated by PSA. A Type 1 photograph is defined as a first-generation image developed from the original camera negative within approximately two years of when the image was captured, making it the most desirable classification among vintage photographs.