Warren Sapp and Air Jordans Auction to Fetch $6.5K for Debt
Bankrupt NFL star Warren Sapp has been forced to auction off his huge collection of Air Jordans worth about $6,500 in order to pay his child support debt.
The former Oakland Raiders player owns 240 pairs of the basketball shoe, including rare and custom-made editions of the footwear.
Sapp, 39, filed for Cahpter 7 Bankruptcy in April, according to TMZ. Many of the size 15 shoes are untouched, while some are lightly worn. All proceeds from the auction will go toward paying back the defensive tackle's creditors.
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In 1998, Sapp married Jamiko Vaugn with whom he shares two children. Following their divorce in 2003, the football star was reportedly paying his former spouse $60,000 a month in alimony and child support.
Moreover, Sapp has four other children with four other women, with all but one born between 1997 and 2002. He is obligated to pay a total of $15,495 per month to the other mothers of the children he fathered.
To make matters worse, Sapp owes $853,000 to the IRS for 2006, another $89,000 for 2010. and $2,858 in medical bills for "Corrective Speech and Language Therapy," according to the Daily Mail.
With such high child support fees and other financial problems, Sapp has resorted to extreme measures in order to abate his debts. Also listed among his valuables along with the Air Jordans are boxing gloves signed by Muhammad Ali, a painting of a large nude woman, a lion skin rug and Nike golf clubs.
Air Jordans, designed by basketball legend Michael Jordan, can fetch up to $600 a pair. The shoe was first released on the market in 1985 and Jordan himself wore them as a rookie one year earlier.
Air Jordans are sold under Nike's subsidiary line called Jordan Brand, which releases new designs annually. The Air Jordan 2012 style currently being promoted boasts the tagline "One Shoe. Three Flights."
