Logan Paul Sues Heritage Auctions Over Authenticity of Michael Jordan Collectible
The renowned WWE wrestler and social media influencer, Logan Paul, has filed a lawsuit against Heritage Auctions in a Texas district court. The legal action focuses on the authenticity of a section of the United Center floor, signed by Michael Jordan, which Paul acquired at an auction. According to court documents, Paul alleges that he was not allowed to verify the authenticity of the floor before making the payment to Heritage Auctions, whose original deadline was September 25. Records indicate that Heritage warned Paul that he would lose his rights to the object if he did not meet the deadline. Paul’s winning bid for the collectible item was $562,555.42, including the buyer’s premium. Josh Bernstein, an attorney at Akerman LLP and legal representative for Paul, requested a temporary restraining order and a temporary injunction against Heritage Auctions. The temporary restraining order was granted on Thursday morning, and a hearing date for the temporary injunction has been set for October 9.Heritage Auctions promoted the floor as “the ultimate Michael Jordan display piece.” The item description detailed an 8-by-8-foot section of the “Original Game-Used Floor from the 1994-98 United Center.” The piece is signed by Jordan and includes the inscriptions “Air Jordan”, “5X MVP”, “6X Finals MVP”, “10X Scoring Title” and “HOF 2009”. Heritage’s description also indicated that the floor was “honored by three World Championships and the steps of the most celebrated athlete in the history of American sport” and that it was “used from the United Center’s debut season in 1994 through the 1998 NBA Championship season” until the 2005-06 season, when the floor was “retired and replaced according to NBA protocol”. In addition, the Heritage description mentioned a certificate of authenticity from Upper Deck Authentication, with whom Jordan has maintained an exclusive partnership for a long time, and third-party authentication from PSA/DNA and Beckett Authentication Services. A Heritage spokesperson stated that the auction house believes Paul’s claim is without merit, adding that concessions were made for Paul to “conduct any in-person inspection and reasonable efforts for further review.”Authenticity is fundamental in the collector community. Collectors like Logan deserve and are entitled to proof of authenticity that withstands scrutiny and addresses any inconsistencies.
Josh Bernstein
Paul’s lawsuit argues that the state of the floor “does not match the floor from 1995-1998, as a result of the floor having been replaced or, as Heritage claims, repainted and refinished.” According to the lawsuit, PSA certification indicates that the Bulls logo appears different from photos from the 2001-05 seasons. Bernstein requested documentation from Heritage after Paul won the lot. In emails included in court documents, Heritage’s sports auction director, Chris Ivy, acknowledged that there is “no documentation matching the floor from the 1998-99, 1999-2000 or 2000-2001 seasons” and that the photo-matching company Sports Investors Authentication “was unsuccessful because the photo matching attempts were only with the Bulls logo, not the wood grain, which is what PSA used for its provided photo matches”. The complaint acknowledges that the Upper Deck certificate refers to the years 1995-98 and that the PSA/DNA photo-matching certificate “claims to have matched the item with” the 2001-02 to 2005-06 seasons. Attempts were made to contact Upper Deck, Beckett, and PSA for comment.We stand behind every item we sell. This lot would not have been included in the auction unless we were fully confident of its authenticity.
Heritage Spokesperson
