It took the New York Knicks 53 years to win another NBA championship. And in far less time, someone decided a piece of that history was worth nearly a quarter-million dollars as a bottle opener.
In July, a 4-by-8-foot section of the hardwood used at Madison Square Garden during Games 3 and 4 of the 2026 NBA Finals sold at Sotheby’s for $243,200. That’s a considerable amount of money for something people spent running across in sneakers.
For the rest of us, who may not have spare change to capture the moment, Michelob ULTRA has turned pieces of the official Finals court into commemorative bottle openers.
Yes, bottle openers.
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The beer company recently announced it transformed pieces of Finals hardwood into 2,026 limited-edition collectibles, giving a new meaning to owning a piece of basketball history.
While one section of championship hardwood becomes an expensive collector’s item. Other pieces get a second life helping somebody crack open a cold beer.
Normally, I’d say this is a wild idea, but sports fans have never been particularly rational about memorabilia.
We’ll treasure old stadium seats nobody wants to sit in, frame jerseys nobody intends to wear, and treat a scrap of net as if it belongs in a museum. The object itself is rarely the point. It’s the moment attached to it.
And after waiting more than half a century for another Knicks title, New Yorkers have plenty of moments worth remembering.
Not everyone can be Ben Stiller, sitting courtside recording the championship run on his phone for an HBO and A24 documentary. The rest of us might have to settle for something a little smaller—and more useful.
Which makes me wonder: If you win a bottle opener made from championship hardwood, would you actually use it? Or would it become another treasured piece of sports memorabilia, carefully displayed and never touched?
Because there’s something wonderfully absurd about asking your friend if they have a bottle opener, only to hear: “Yeah, but you can’t use that one. It’s too valuable.”
Take that, Sotheby’s.
Beginning October 19, fans 21 and older can enter through Michelob ULTRA’s Instagram for a chance to win one of the 2,026 openers. The giveaway ends October 26.
