Backboard, stand from Bulls' 1998 Finals clincher fetches $41,825

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Friday, July 31, 2015

The backboard, hoop, net and stand that was the recipient of Michael Jordan's last shot with the Chicago Bulls sold for $41,825 by Heritage Auctions at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago on Thursday night.

The collectible is from the Delta Center, where the Utah Jazz hosted the Bulls for Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals. With 5.6 seconds to go, Jordan hit a go-ahead jumper from the top of the key, giving the Bulls a one-point victory and their sixth title in eight years.

The game, played on June 14, 1998, was watched at least in part by 72 million Americans, which still ranks as the most watched NBA game in U.S. history.

The 1984 Summer Olympic Torch that Bruce Jenner carried through Lake Tahoe, Nevada, has sold for just under $24,000. The torch is the first major piece of Jenner memorabilia to go to auction since the winner of the 1976 Olympic Decathlon Gold Medal became Caitlyn Jenner. It had been estimated to bring $20,000 or more.

Other items sold in the auction included a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card that sold for $382,400; a 1966 Mickey Mantle game-used New York Yankees jersey that sold for $322,650; a 1955 Topps Roberto Clemente rookie card that sold for $310,700; and the shoes worn by Muhammad Ali in the "Thrilla in Manila" in 1975, which sold for $119,500.

A circa-1860s Brooklyn Atlantics team baseball card that's been in the same family for more than 150 years fetched more than $179,000. The pre-Civil War baseball card was owned by Florence Sasso of Great Barrington, Massachusetts. It shows her great-great-uncle Archibald McMahon, an outfielder for the squad, pictured with eight of his teammates in bib-style shirts and two gentlemen in suits.

Auction organizers say the card was purchased by an anonymous collector from the West Coast. It had a presale estimate of $50,000.

The Atlantics were a founding member of the National Association of Base Ball Players -- the sport's first organized league that held the championship from 1859 through 1861.

A ring that the auction house says is William "The Refrigerator" Perry's Super Bowl XX ring went for $203,150. Sports ring expert Tim Robins told ESPN.com that only one ring has publicly sold for higher -- Lawrence Taylor's Super Bowl XXV ring, which sold for $210,000.

ESPN's Darren Rovell and the Associated Press contributed to this report.