Michael Jordan's Iconic Sports Illustrated Cover Heads to Auction
Michael Jordan's most recognizable Sports Illustrated magazine is back in the spotlight, and the result could be a new benchmark for the graded magazine market. A 1984 Sports Illustrated featuring Jordan on the cover has been graded CGC 9.8 and is being offered in Goldin's Summer 100 Auction.
The issue shows Jordan during his rookie season with the Chicago Bulls, soaring toward the basket under the headline, “A Star Is Born.” It captures the earliest stage of his NBA career and stands as his first Sports Illustrated cover in an NBA uniform.
Jordan had previously appeared on the November 28, 1983, Sports Illustrated cover while playing at North Carolina, but that issue featured him alongside teammate Sam Perkins. The 1984 cover is the one that most closely aligns with the image fans associate with his rise to superstardom.
Why This Jordan Sports Illustrated Is So Hard to Find
High-grade examples of this magazine are extremely scarce. According to the source, only four known CGC 9.8 copies exist across CGC and PSA. One of those copies was originally graded CGC 9.8 and later crossed over to PSA 9.8, though it still remains in CGC's population report because the original CGC label has not been returned.
Newsstand copies are especially desirable because they are much rarer than subscription copies. They also lack the subscription mailing label, which gives them a cleaner visual presentation. Like many magazines from the era, most were read and discarded, making top-condition survivors difficult to locate decades later.
The population numbers underscore that scarcity. CGC has graded 126 total newsstand copies of “A Star Is Born,” while PSA has graded 54. By comparison, PSA has graded 28,130 copies of the 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan rookie card, including 335 PSA 10 examples. The article notes that one recently sold for more than $400,000.
Past Sales Show How Fast the Magazine Market Has Moved
This is not the first time “A Star Is Born” has drawn major attention. In August 2023, a CGC 9.8 newsstand copy sold for $126,000 through Heritage Auctions. At the time, that sale set the record for the most expensive Sports Illustrated magazine ever sold.
That mark has since been surpassed in the graded magazine category. Earlier this year, a PSA 9.6 copy of Jordan's first Sports Illustrated cover from 1983 sold for $229,360 through Goldin. Then, on June 28, a PSA 9.6 copy of Mickey Mantle's first Sports Illustrated cover from June 18, 1956, sold for $328,180, which is now the record sale for any graded magazine.
Jordan's current auction result has already moved beyond the previous $126,000 benchmark for “A Star Is Born.” The lot was at $158,600 with 19 days still remaining in the auction, showing that interest in the cover remains strong.
Collectors See a Market That Is Still Expanding
Magazine collector Joel Koman, who consigned the record-setting 1956 Mickey Mantle Sports Illustrated, said the category has been building for years and has accelerated more recently.
“I think growth has been steady for the last four years, but during the last 18 months, it's starting to go a little parabolic,” Koman said.
Koman pointed out that the market is not only being driven by the highest-end copies. He cited a PSA 8.5 copy of Mantle's first Sports Illustrated cover that recently sold for $85,400. He said comparable copies were worth around $20,000 before the PSA 9.6 record sale, and that in 2019 a PSA 8.5 sold for less than $1,000.
In Koman's view, magazines remain an emerging collectible category compared with the more established sports card market. “Magazines have been undervalued for so long. Now they're finally catching up a little bit. We're still probably in inning two of our big growth,” he said.
Ken Goldin Sees Magazines Following the Card Market Pattern
Ken Goldin, founder of Goldin Auctions, said the magazine market is developing in a way that resembles the rise of key sports cards.
“We see magazines following a similar trajectory today to cards decades ago,” Goldin said. “Certain S.I. covers like the 1956 Mantle break out from the rest and become a vintage grail. ‘A Star Is Born’ becomes the modern grail. The same thing happened with 1952 Topps Mantle and 1986 Fleer Jordan rookies. This is how emerging categories grow and catch fire. Through constant record-breaking prices for the finest pieces.”
That comparison places Jordan's 1984 cover in a familiar hobby framework. Just as the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle and 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan rookie card became defining cards in their respective eras, “A Star Is Born” has emerged as a centerpiece for magazine collectors.
What Makes “A Star Is Born” Different From Jordan's Other Covers
In magazine collecting, a first appearance on a cover carries significance similar to a rookie card or a comic book first appearance. Jordan's 1983 North Carolina Sports Illustrated cover may technically be his first front-cover appearance, but the 1984 issue has several features that make it stand apart.
Unlike the earlier cover, “A Star Is Born” presents Jordan alone and in his Chicago Bulls uniform. The action image of him soaring toward the basket reflects the player he would become in the NBA, rather than the college star shown on the 1983 issue with Sam Perkins.
That distinction has helped make the 1984 cover the more iconic of the two among collectors and basketball fans.
Could This Copy Challenge the All-Time Magazine Record?
The current graded magazine record belongs to the PSA 9.6 Mickey Mantle Sports Illustrated that sold for $328,180. Jordan's 1984 cover has already surpassed its prior public-auction high of $126,000, but it would still need to more than double from its current level to take the overall record.
Still, some collectors believe the combination of rarity, condition and market momentum could push the final price much higher. Zachary Katcher, a sports magazine collector and contributor to YouTube's magazine show “Collectors Roundtable,” said he could see the magazine reaching between $850,000 and $2 million.
That would place the Jordan issue in a completely different tier from its last public sale, but the source suggests that the strongest magazines may still have room to grow as the category gains broader attention.
Koman said magazines occupy a unique space between cards and comics. “These magazines sit right in between cards and comics,” he said. “They're in the sweet spot. I think there's room for growth. Lots of room.”
The article also notes that the gap between the top sports magazines and the top comic books remains wide. Action Comics #1 featuring Superman sold for $15 million this year, while a Batman comic sold for $9 million and another Superman comic sold for $7 million earlier in 2026.
Koman believes that as sports magazines become more established as high-end collectibles, that gap could narrow over time. “You basically have fictional superheroes versus real life superheroes,” he said. Few athletes fit that description better than Michael Jordan.
Goldin's Summer 100 Auction is scheduled to conclude on September 19, giving this CGC 9.8 copy of “A Star Is Born” a chance to set another benchmark for one of the hobby's most important magazine issues.
Source: Original source (www.si.com)
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