Given that the sneakers came to auction with an estimate of $2-million to $4-million and carried what Sotheby’s calls an “irrevocable bid”, which is a way of saying they’d lined up a buyer in advance, the sale was always anticipated to set a record.

Having barely cleared the low estimate (estimates do not include auction house fees; final sales numbers do), the final price is a victory for the sneaker-collecting community, but not necessarily evidence of a booming market.

The previous known sneaker record was a $1.8-million private sale of Nike Air Yeezy 1 sneakers worn by Ye (formerly Kanye West), which Sotheby’s brokered in 2021. The previous public auction record, also set at Sotheby’s in 2021, was for a pair of Michael Jordan regular season game-worn Nike Air Ships, sold for $1.5-million.

Still, these prices are dwarfed by yet another sports memorabilia sale at Sotheby’s in 2022, when someone paid $10.1-million for Jordan’s ‘Last Dance’ jersey worn in game one of those 1998 finals.

The sale comes at a time when Jordan’s career has returned to the public spotlight: Air, a chronicle of his path to being signed by Nike, has received positive reviews, grossing a reported $20.2-million since opening on April 5. In March, ESPN reported the NBA legend is in talks to sell a majority stake in Charlotte Hornets.