Phoenix is at the other end of this photograph. Jordan is above the rim in Bulls home white, arm extended, and the purple jerseys underneath him belong to the Suns — the team Chicago beat in June 1993 to complete the first three-peat. Scottie Pippen, #21, stands to the right of the frame watching it happen.

On his feet is the Air Jordan VIII: the heavy, strapped, cross-strapped model from the 1992–93 season. It is the least elegant shoe in the line — chenille tongue patch, two crossing velcro straps, a bulky midsole — and it is the one he wore for the third championship.

What gives this print its weight is what came immediately after. Jordan won Finals MVP for the third straight year, and four months later — his father murdered that summer — he walked away from basketball entirely. The three-peat photographs are the last of the first era. Everything after them is the comeback.

PSA certified this Type I Authentic and dated it c. 1993, noting the Air Jordan VIII on the label. The reverse is blank — no wire stamp, no caption slug — an original color press print that was never filed or annotated.