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DAVIS COUNTY — A piece of NBA history will be made public again after being safely locked away in a Davis County bank for years.
The shoes Michael Jordan wore during the famous "flu game" of the 1997 NBA finals are going up for auction.
Game five of the series is still a painful memory for most Utah Jazz fans. Jordan scored 38 points and hit the game-winning three pointer in a two-point Bulls win that turned the series back into Chicago's favor.
Jordan gave the shoes he wore that night to former Jazz ball boy Preston Truman after the iconic game. Truman said when he brought them home, his mother noticed they were scuffed.
"My mom's a clean freak," he said. "She was about to start wiping them off. I'm like, ‘Mom, no! Don't touch them. Those marks are from the court.'"
At an earlier game, Truman had searched the Delta Center for applesauce when Jordan requested it.
"Jordan looked around and saw two ball boys standing there," Truman said. "He looked at us and said, 'There's going to be no autographs for the ball boys after the game unless I get my applesauce.' "
Truman got a large can of applesauce and a can opener from an employee in a food storage area and gave it to a smiling Jordan.
"He looked at me like I was crazy and said, ‘Wow, you really came through,' " Truman said.
For most of the past 16 years, the shoes have been sitting at a Davis County bank. Truman said he's been offered thousands of dollars for them over the years, but money is not why he's letting them go. He said he wants to finally tell the story of how he got them and let others enjoy them, too.
Experts predict they could go for anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000. Bidding will begin at $5,000 on Grey Flannel Auctions Nov. 18 and the auction will run for two weeks.
Video contributing: Nkoyo Iyamba
