Rare MJ sneaker found in abandoned mall storage room up for auction

One of Michael Jordan's game-worn Air Jordan 1 sneakers from 1985 is being auctioned off, nearly two decades after it was salvaged from a Milwaukee mall demolition site.

Larry Awe, the former head of maintenance for Capitol Court Mall, found the single shoe in an abandoned storage room during the building's demolition in 2001, according to JR Radcliffe of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He recognized it as one of the game-worn NBA sneakers that were routinely displayed at sports apparel store Playmakers.

"I saw the box and said, 'This isn't going to the dump,'" Awe said.

The shoe was signed by Jordan and includes the message, "My Very Best." It's being sold through Heritage Auctions, which values it at $20,000.

"The signature was pretty faded, but it was legible enough that you can make out that it's a vintage signature," Heritage Auctions consignment director Chris Nerat said. "He only (signed the shoe and wrote the message) very early on, maybe just his rookie year. The most important thing, as far as authenticating, is the serial number that's stamped into the interior of the shoe that dates it."

The shoe was manufactured on Nov. 8, 1984, and is believed to have been worn by Jordan during a Feb. 17, 1985 game between the Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks.

The highest bid is currently $8,500.