Michael Jordan’s ‘Dream Team’ Olympic jacket heading to auction

The jacketthat Michael Jordan famously and grudgingly wore while receiving anOlympic gold medal has been in Brian McIntyre’s possession for morethan three decades now.

He figuresthe time is right to let someone else enjoy it.

The red,white and blue Reebok jacket that Jordan — a Nike athlete — wasforced to wear on the medal stand alongside the other members ofUSA Basketball’s first “Dream Team” at the 1992 Barcelona Olympicsis headed to auction. Sotheby’s, which has the offering that willrun through June 28, estimates that the jacket could fetch anywherefrom $1 million to $3 million.

“I’ve enjoyedit and it’s just the right time to do this,” McIntyre said. “Andit’s easier to do this than it is to leave things for my kids.”

Jordan isaware of the decision to auction the jacket, McIntyre said.

McIntyre waswith the Dream Team in Barcelona through his role with the NBA. Hejoined the league’s communications department in 1981 and steppedaside into an advisory role for then-Commissioner David Stern in2010. Part of his job, outside of overseeing public relations atall the major NBA events, was to help at other major events withNBA players — including the world championships and theOlympics.

That’s whyMcIntyre was in Barcelona working with the players. The U.S.Olympic Committee had sent word that Jordan would have to wear thefull athlete uniform on the medal stand, and Jordan complied — withone adjustment. For the ceremony where the Americans got their goldmedals, he draped an American flag over his shoulder to hide theReebok logo.

And whenJordan came off the medal stand, he took off the jacket and tossedit aside, then gifted it to McIntyre.

“He said, ‘Icertainly don’t want it,’” McIntyre said.

So, McIntyretook it. He brought the jacket — which has a patch that reads“Reebok is proud to honor America’s finest” — to Jordan at an eventwhen the NBA legend was shifting to baseball in 1994, thinkingJordan would ask for it back.

Instead,Jordan signed it: “To Brian, Thanks for Everything, MichaelJordan.”

McIntyre keptit the last 29 years, wearing it occasionally. The jacket andJordan’s reluctance to wear it was a big story in Barcelona andbecame a talking point again when “The Last Dance” documentaryre-told part of the story with sound from Jordan in 1992 revealinghis frustration with the situation.

That said,anything involving that team, and those Olympics, has obvioushistorical value. It was the first time the NBA sent its players toan Olympics, and the game was forever changed.

“We watchedthe ‘Dream Team’ in the ’92 Olympics fast-forward the growth ofbasketball, by a lot,” McIntyre said. “I mean, it really helpeddevelop the game worldwide — not just for the NBA, but inbasketball in general.”

Sotheby’s isoffering the auction online and will display the jacket in New Yorkfrom June 24-28.

“To be ableto sell this relic from such a historic world event — one that isoften credited for multiplying the popularity and global reach ofbasketball — is both rare and unparalleled,” said Brahm Wachter,Sotheby’s head of streetwear and modern collectibles. “And beyondits legendary place in Olympic history, the jacket representsMichael Jordan’s fierce and devoted loyalty to Nike, atransformative and revolutionary partnership between twopowerhouses that has stood the test of time.”