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Award-winning columnist Tom Archdeacon — an old-school storyteller in a brand-new venue — writes about sports, the city, southwest Ohio and anything else that catches his fancy… or yours.Home > Blogs > Through the Arch > Archives > 2009 > October > 28
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Michael Jordan’s son steps into a dispute
They recruited Marcus Jordan because they hoped he would be following in his famous dad’s footsteps . Now he is and the University of Central Florida wishes he was not.
UCF has a problem stuck to the bottom of it’s basketball sole — maybe its soul, too — and right now the school can’t figure out a way to scrape it off.
As the son of NBA legend Michael Jordan, Marcus is the Golden Knights most famous basketball player.
But as one Chicago sports columnist puts it, the 18-year-old Heir Jordan is about to become Err Jordan.
I like the line — I’m not so sure of the logic.
The problem is over the brand of shoes the kid will wear when UCF tips off its hoops season with an exhibition game next Wednesday, Nov. 4
For decades Michael Jordan’s name has been synonymous with Nike — sometimes to a fault.
UCF has an exclusive $1.9 million contract with Nike rival Adidas that requires all its athletes and coaches to wear adidas footwear and apparel.
When he was being recruited, Marcus brought up the issue — saying he only wanted to wear his dad’s Air Jordan brand Nikes on the court — and he, and some UCF officials, have said he was told that wouldn’t be a problem.
Adidas though — which is in the midst of negotiating a new six-year, $ 3 million contract with UCF — has said no to that proposal. It wants EVERYBODY in Adidas gear.
Marcus though has balked. He said he’ll wear the Adidas apparel, but he plans to wear Nike Air Jordans, just as he was assured he could.
“When I was being recruited, we talked about it,” Marcus told the Orlando Sentinel. “They said they had talked to the Adidas people, and it wasn’t going to be a problem. I think everybody understands how big of a deal it is for my family.
“I have a high level of respect for Adidas, but I’m going to be wearing Jordan shoes. I’m wearing the Adidas uniform, and all my other UCF gear is Adidas, but the shoes are going to be Jordan brand.”
Now supposedly UCF’s new deal with Adidas is in some jeopardy because of the flap. And for the cash-strapped Golden Knights’ athletic department, $3 million is significant. It’s at least 5 percent of the entire athletics budget.
The school is the one that screwed this thing up. It never should have made the arrangement with Marcus. While some have tried to dismiss it as just another over-inflated ploy used on the recruiting trail, the bottom line is that a promise is a promise.
So what are the choices here?
Besides Adidas relenting or Nike — which already has the the state’s three most prominent programs under contract, Miami Florida and Florida State — stepping in and offering a more lucrative deal or UCF releasing Jordan’s son from his scholarship, there is one other possibility.
Marcus could show himself to be a true team player and agree to wear Adidas and end up standing taller than anyone in this mess.
Although I’d like to see that, I’m not sure that will happen — especially not if Marcus truly is following in Dad’s footsteps.
I remember this same kind of flap at the Barcelona Olympics. The gold medal-winning US basketball team was outfitted by Reebok, but Jordan and a few other players were adamant about their Nike contracts.
And so on the medal stand, Jordan draped an American flags over his warm-up jacket. Not a display of patriotism, this was all about profiteering. He wanted to make sure he hid the Reebok logo.
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