Jordan was wearing the jacket when he took to the podium with the rest of his teammates to collect his gold medal at Barcelona 1992.

The Reebok-branded jacket features the stars and stripes of the United States flag as well as "USA" emblazoned on the front and the Olympic rings on the back.

Jordan played a key role in what was famously called the "Dream Team" as it starred big names from the National Basketball Association (NBA).

The team beat their opponents by an average of 44 points a game before thrashing Croatia 117-85 in the final.

Jordan's jacket was estimated to go for between $1 million (£787,000/€916,500) to $3 million (£2.36 million/€2.75 million) after it was put up for auction by The Sotheby’s auction.

It had been in the hands of Brian McIntyre, who was part of the NBA's communications department and oversaw public relations at Barcelona 1992.

Jordan gave McIntyre the jacket before signing it with the message "To Brian, Thanks for Everything, Michael Jordan".

"He said, 'I certainly don’t want it'," said McIntyre in a report by NBC Sports.

McIntyre kept hold of it for almost three decades before deciding the time was right to auction it off.

"I’ve enjoyed it and it’s just the right time to do this," added McIntyre.

"And it’s easier to do this than it is to leave things for my kids."