Well, that didn’t take long. Hours ago, UCF announced that His Heirness Marcus Jordan would be taking the floor in tonight’s exhibition in his dad’s Air Jordans. According to Darren Rovell at CNBC, adidas has responded… by summarily canceling their $1.9 million sponsorship with the Golden Knights.
(But what of the custom-made Air Jordans? All people get those before their freshman year, right?)
The immediate ramifications - financial and otherwise - are as yet unknown, but adidas says all notions of a contract extension with the school are completely off the table. And our question is pretty simple: where the hell was Michael Jordan on this one?
As we mentioned when this all first went down a couple weeks ago, the issue, at its core, was whether Marcus Jordan would be more than just Michael Jordan’s son. The initial signs weren’t great; he got custom-made Jordans during his AAU career, then only committed to UCF when they told him he could rock the Jordans.
That didn’t happen, of course, and the fact that the adidas contract was openly in danger didn’t prevent Marcus from refusing to wear adidas.
At that point, a responsible father would probably have told his son that he’s only 18, a freshman in a marginally major conference, and in absolutely no position to start making dictates on thngs like shoe deals. A responsible father would have told him to just be part of the team and earn his own legacy.
And yet, Jordan’s silence on the matter was deafening. We never heard him encourage or discourage his son’s involvement with the Air Jordan brand. It’s nice if that comes off as “let the son make his own decision,” but let’s be honest: that’s a deliberately obtuse approach to the situation.
After all, it’s not like 18-year-olds are normally capable of making the most responsible, unselfish decisions in the first place; some coach telling Michael Jordan’s son that he can’t wear his dad’s most famous shoe line of all time after all isn’t going to fly well to an adolescent. That’s where the father - who also just so happens to represent the shoe company - steps in. Usually.
So what now? Unless Jordan leverages this to swing a new Nike deal for UCF - which would be a coup of mammoth proportions, because UCF is hardly a traditionally basketball power - then the school is utterly screwed over in the middle of an income canyon, and it’s all because neither Jordan would extricate themselves from the Jordan brand long enough to do the right thing and put an 18-year-old into the same shoes that his teammates have to wear. That seems more than a little ridiculous.
2:35 am on November 5th, 2009
“That seems more than a little ridiculous.”
If my father was the greatest basketball player the universe has ever seen……..then i would probably rock his kicks.
You even implying that it is a dumb move is ridiculous……..he’s going to bring more money to that school then 1.9 million……so im sure they could care less.
2:42 am on November 5th, 2009
agree with above but a legit solution would be Jordan takes up sponsoring UCF, and every player on the team gets their own custom shoes…seems simple enough solution…
either way, if MJ was my dad, I’de rock only Jordans also, especially custom ones, and if someone had a problem with it, well what have they ever done on the court? nothing is most likely the answer…so fuck em, they’re worthless
7:51 am on November 5th, 2009
What has the kid done, Nothing other than being an offspring of MJ. wear the school shoe and be a good team mate and team player. MJ dropped the ball on this one.
8:04 am on November 5th, 2009
f… the jordans
8:30 am on November 5th, 2009
I lost a lot of respect for MJ…..dad needed to grab his kid by the neck and tell him he will do what he is told because the team comes first.
This kid better average 20 and 10 this year or the media will wear him out.
8:42 am on November 5th, 2009
UCF is just as much to blame as The Jordans. They should have never told the kid he could wear the jordan sneakers when they knew addidas would never go for that. Nike will step in and give them a deal for a few hundred thousand less then addidas was offering. You dont make promises you cant keep…especialy to people who expect the world to be served to them on a platter.
8:49 am on November 5th, 2009
The kid is not a team player. HIS FATHER accomplished great things, Junior, not so much. Showing such ego before actually proving himself just shows a complete lack of character and a willingness to skate along on daddies coattails.
The university should have shown some balls and benched Junior, if only to show his teammates that they are playing on a team. But I guess the Jordan name will put bodies in the seats.
8:52 am on November 5th, 2009
Ridiculous. Selfish like his Father and totally lacking perspective. However, what about the AD and coach….ummm, u better have a backup plan to regain another $1.9M in addition to the Jordan notoriety because this is your fault!
9:41 am on November 5th, 2009
If the school actually promised him something, then it doesn’t matter what he or his dad could have done. That is the only question. If the school did not promise anything then they should just teach the kid what his father hasn’t. Responsibilities equals consequences.
9:43 am on November 5th, 2009
UCF has a basketball team?
10:22 am on November 5th, 2009
I am NOT going to play unless I can wear my Dad’s shoes. Right Dad?
Makes them both look like fools.
10:47 am on November 5th, 2009
UCF promised that he could wear Air Jordans and Addidas said it would be fine even before Jordan signed on with UCF. So, Addidas backed out on their word. So, the one to blame is Addidas!
Also, please correct the article..They are no longer the Golden Knights… They just are the UCF Knights!!
10:51 am on November 5th, 2009
Hope he fails miserably. If he was any good he would be at a college with a real bball program. But, welcome to America where your name earns you things you haven’t earned.
10:59 am on November 5th, 2009
I doubt Jordan would’ve signed with UCF if Nike hadn’t guaranteed a deal for the school is Adidas dropped them.
11:18 am on November 5th, 2009
Does anybody think adidas assumes responsibility in this too?
I mean really. Its one kid on one team at the university wearing his DAD’S brand. ( MJ isn’t an exec or just some salesman for Nike, he is Nike.)
Adidas should get over it and give an exemption.
And Who’s the ID10T from UCF who told him it’d be ok. Theres some responsibility there, too
3:07 pm on November 5th, 2009
Dont you think NIKE thought of this before now? They knew MJ’s son would not wear Adidas and just waited for the opportunity to take over another school without bargaining power.