Michael Jordan’s High School Love Letter Heads Past $12K In Auction
Source: Alexander Hassenstein / Getty
Laquetta Robinson may not be a household name, but she once had the full attention of one of the most famous athletes in the world. When she was at Laney High School in Wilmington, North Carolina, there was a guy named Michael Jordan who was crushing on her so much that he wrote a two-page letter to express his devotion.
Now Robinson, or someone close to her, has offered that letter up for auction, providing a look into the man, now in his 60s, and what he was like before global NBA fame and becoming a billionaire via his Jordan brand.
Dated May 20, 1981, Jordan reveals that he was already committed to the University of North Carolina, and that basketball was a passion that had become essential to him. But Robinson, he said, was a close second.
“You are my whole life next to basketball,” he said. “Please don’t get mad about that statement.You are my whole life. But you can’t have basketball. It (sic) hard for me to do this because one day I hope to make a living of this and I want you to be by my side. I can never show you how much my love goes for you but each day I try to show you.”
Robinson, or her representatives, already earned $4000 last year for a prom picture of the two of them. But this letter has already surpassed more than $12K in an auction held by Leland’s Sports Memorabilia, which goes through March 15. They call it “one of the most amazing Michael Jordan items we have ever seen.”
We don’t know what happened with Jordan and Robinson. He married Juanita Vanoy in 1989 and had three children with her: Michael Jr., 36. Jeffrey, 34, and Jasmine, 32. After they divorced, Jordan married Cuban model Yvette Prieto in 2013 and the couple share twin daughters, Victoria and Ysabel, born in 2014.
The letter also suggested that someone was trying to keep the high school sweethearts apart but doesn’t provide much detail other than Jordan thought it was important to get to know Robinson’s family better.
Most Jordan memorabilia is out of the range of casual collectors. A ticket stub from his first NBA game sold for more than $400K. But after watching The Last Dance, where an ultra-competitive Jordan showed that he prioritized winning over just about everything else, alienating his own teammates and using perceived slights to dominate opponents, the letter displays a softer side of the icon that most have never seen.
But this is not the first time this letter has surfaced.
In a 2011 article, Yahoo Sports said the letter had been stolen from Robinson, who says she thought it was in her possession.
“It was mine, it was personal, it was private,” Robinson said then. “And for them to take something that belonged to me and to capitalize off of it, without my knowledge, without my permission, it really upsets me.”
She also said she never wanted Jordan to think she was exploiting their past relationship by selling the letter. But years later, Leland’s has authenticated it, and there appear to be no issues about its rightful owner, whoever that may be.
“More than anything, I wouldn’t want Michael to think that I did it ’cause I wouldn’t want him to think that I would betray him in this way,” Robinson added.
