After his brief experiment withpro baseball in 1994 Michael Jordan un-retired from the NBA andreturned to his starring role with the Chicago Bulls in March 1995just in time for the playoffs. However the young upstart Orlando Magicsurprised the Bulls by knocking them out in the 2nd round. ApparentlyMJ needed a little more time to get back in his groove. So heading intothe 1995-96 season Jordan and the Bulls set out to prove theirdominance once again. They did so in historic fashion winning athen-record 72 regular season games and plowing through the postseasonwith an emphatic 15-3 run to win their 4th championship.

Jordan wasofficially back on top of the sports world stomping on any doubtersdumb enough to question his ability or desire when he walked away fromthe game two years earlier. He averaged a league-leading 30.4 points along with 6.6 rebounds 4.3 assists and 2.2 steals during the regular season to earn his fourth league MVP award; he also was named All-Star MVP and Finals MVP for the rare trifecta. For the majority of the '95-96 seasonJordan sported the white and black Air Jordan XI sneakers known as theConcords. Offered here is one of MJ's game-worn and dual-signed pairs from that epic campaign that began the Bulls second unprecedented 3-Peat. Fresh to the market they come directly from an impeccable source a former NBA player whose father just so happens to be the head coach of the team that lost to Chicago in the '96 NBA Finals.

Nike officially released the Air Jordan XI to the public in 1996 and Michael wore this shiny black leather on white canvas style from early in the seasonall the way through the NBA Finals. Tinker Hatfield's design for the XI's featured patent leather for the first time on a basketballshoe. "Quality Basketball Products Inspired by the Greatest Player Ever"is stitched inside the upper tongue. "23" and the Jumpman logo adornthe outer heel. The pair comes in size 13.5 (an increment not availableto the public) and are properly tagged on the interior. Jordan has signed on the upper ankle of both sneakers in bold 8-9/10 black marker and personalized each "To Coby Best Wishes" for good measure. The sneakers exhibit heavy wear throughout with creasingin the ankles and toes evidence of heel drag and usage on theoutsoles and sweat fading of the Nike Air logo on the insoles. The white laces appear to be the originals. There is one tiny pin-hole puncture on the lower right-hand side of the right shoe but it has done no harm to the inner air bubble. All other elements are as-issued and problem-free

As a bonus the shoes come with a pair of black socks with the NBA logo on both sides. We assume these were also worn by Jordan and game photos from the 1995-96 season do show MJ sporting black socks with the same design. He was even wearing a pair in the locker room right after winning it all (Getty 75878304).

Includes LOA from former NBA player Coby Karl son of longtime SuperSonics coach George Karl who received these shoes as a gift from his father. Full LOA's from PSA/DNA for each signed shoe.