Logan Paul filed a petition for a temporary restraining order and temporary injunction against Heritage Auctions over authenticity concerns regarding a section of game-used court he won at auction for $562,555.42 last month.
Paul’s complaint alleges Heritage has denied him the right to investigate the authenticity of the item prior to payment, and the YouTube star is being told by the auction house he will lose his right to the lot (and it will return to the consignor or appear in another auction) if he does not pay the full amount.
According to the complaint, the piece was represented as the 8-foot by 8-foot section of the court from the United Center in Chicago from 1994-2005, during which time Michael Jordan’s Bulls claimed their second three-peat. The item is signed by Jordan and includes five inscriptions.
However, following the auction, the complaint says Paul “discovered serious issues with the accuracy of the item as described on Heritage’s auction website.” Paul alleges Heritage failed to provide him with documents and information to help verify the item, and the auction house refused to hold the item for him during his investigation.
The complaint describes the authenticity issues as arising from the dates of the court’s use.
“The condition of the Item indisputably does not match the court from 1995-1998, as a result of the court either being replaced or, as Heritage claims, repainted and resurfaced,” the complaint says.
The filing goes on to list various discrepancies believed to be found in the item, including that PSA photo-match certificates claims matches the court to five seasons from 2001-02 to 2005-06. It goes on to allege PSA’s certificates only provide matches to a single year.
Citing Heritage’s website, the complaint says the NBA teams are required by the league to replace the court flooring at least every 10 years.
Paul, who rose to fame on YouTube before becoming a professional wrestler, podcaster and entrepreneur, has become a well-known collector of ultra high-end items in recent years.
The WWE star’s collection is best known for the 1998 Pokémon Pikachu Holo Illustrator PSA 10, which Paul purchased for $5.275 million in a private deal in 2021. That purchase remains the most paid for a Pokémon card, according to public records.
In 2022, Paul paid $3.5 million for a sealed case of 1st Edition Pokémon Base Set booster boxes, which ended up being filled with G.I. Joe cards and resealed. Paul was reportedly refunded the $3.5 million after the case was revealed to be fake.
In a statement to cllct, Heritage said it stood by the item's authenticity.
"Heritage Auctions does not believe that the buyer has any merit to their claims, and we stand behind every item that we sell. This lot would not have been included for sale at auction unless we were fully confident in the authenticity," the statement said.
"The Chicago Bulls court piece is authenticated and warranted as authentic by The Upper Deck company that originally acquired it directly from the Bulls organization, and it also has extensive third-party autograph authentication from Beckett Authentication, as well as photo-matching authentication from PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator).
"Moreover, Heritage made allowances for the buyer to accommodate any in-person inspection and reasonable efforts for additional review."
Paul and his attorney could not immediately be reached.
Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture. He was previously the Collectibles Editor at Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on X and Instagram @benmburrows.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.