Winter Auction 2021 Ending March 6-7
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/6/2021
It's easy to imagine the scene as a middle-school or early-high-school age Michael sits at his desk composing these romantic lines, then formally signs his name, "Michael Jeffrey Jordan," folds the page up to pocket size, and hands it off to the girl of his dreams. Titled "Only You," the poem is by turns sentimental ("Only you can kiss me on my cheeks"), devout (mentioning "the great man above") and, well, awkward ("I hope you grow very, very tall / Because right now you haven't grown at all"). But the standout phrase by far—and the one which foretells His Airness's unparalleled hoops future—remains, "I never fear defeat."
The poem “Only You” reads:
Only you can brighten my day
Only you can show me the way
Only you can except (sic) my love
You and the great man above
Only you can kiss me on my cheeks
When I with you, I never fear defeat
I hope you grow very, very tall
Because right now you haven’t grown at all
My face shows happiness and blue
Because I will love “Only You.”
While not quite the quality of Robert Frost or John Keats, you certainly sense the passion that Jordan exudes, the same passion which allowed him to dominate on the hardwood. This poem is written on standard lined loose-leaf paper, which is slightly toned and contains a few small stains, none of which hamper the poem. There are several folds, looking like it was carefully folded and presented to its original esteemed recipient. The signature is a rare full name example and one of the earliest examples known of Jordan's autograph. This extremely rare one-of-a-kind item has been authenticated and encapsulated by Beckett Authentication (00012527044) with a corresponding LOA (A04710), plus an additional LOA from JSA (X91332).