Another Reason It’s Not Easy Being Michael Jordan’s Son
Mars Blackmon was right: “It’s gotta be the shoes.” And for University of Central Florida freshman Marcus Jordan, wearing his father’s kicks could cost his school $3 million. With an exclusive $3 million, six-year contract with adidas – that requires all coaches and athletes to use the company’s shoes, apparel and game equipment – the other MJ is being forced to trade in the Jumpman for the three stripes.
“When I was being recruited, we talked about it,” Marcus Jordan said. “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.
“It’s a level of importance with the Jordan brand and my family,” he said. “It’s no disrespect to adidas. 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.”
Pretty heavy stuff for an 18-year-old freshman who already has the burden of carrying the name “Jordan” on the back of his jersey. While I totally understand that adidas is trying to get their money’s worth in the deal, there has to be room for compromise. And apparently from adidas’ standpoint, that word isn’t in their vocabulary.
“There is no compromise, and the contract is currently under review,” adidas spokeswoman Andrea Corso said. “We are in negotiations for a future relationship regarding the broader UCF athletic program. What I can say is that these relationships are based upon agreed deliverables for both parties.”
How this situation will play out is still up in the air. Both Marcus and the university have a vested interest in getting their way (UCF’s contract with adidas represents about 1.4 percent of the Athletics Association’s projected income this year), so it will be interesting to see the result. For me, it comes down to trust. So much of the recruiting process is trusting what a school tells you, so if UCF promised Marcus he could wear Jordans, then they needs to live up to their promise.
What do you think?
Source: Orlando Sentinel
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October 22nd, 2009 at 10:58 am
CJ says:
Marcus is a Jordan; it would be idiotic for him to wear any other sneaker when his father essentially established the sneaker industry into what it has become today!!!! Additionally, the UCF staff stated wearing Jordans would not be a problem, therefore, MARCUS SHOULD WEAR HIS J’s!!!!
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:03 am
NTstateOFmind says:
the recruiters never should have lied to him …so if that 3M is at stake, is over their head, not Marcus’
but for the overall, Marcus should just suck it up and wear the adidas bc its for the TEAM. you haven’t proven ish yet and youre trying to be a diva already? GTFOH kid.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:05 am
Derik says:
Marcus Jordan needs to shut up, Jeff Jordan plays like shit in Jordan Brand, It’s not like Marcus can average 30 points and help Adidas sell more shoes.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:10 am
Aron Phillips says:
@NTstateOFmind
No way! On principle alone, no way the other MJ wears adidas.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:14 am
Mike says:
Adidas is being completely unreasonable.
Andrea Corso = circus clown
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:17 am
ENEW says:
This is kind of funny, actually very funny.
Is it unfair to ask why Jordan Brand isn’t stepping up and making a deal with UCF?
Adidas in my opinion would be foolish not to compromise.
There is no way Marcus Jordan is going to wear Adidas, I just don’t see it happening…
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:19 am
bballinca says:
The clown should wear his Jordan’s and cover them up in tape.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:19 am
matthew says:
Why should he get special treatment?
Adidas is right.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:24 am
Chilirey says:
Who cares….UCF gets pub, they are the winners.
Adidas can shut up or pull out.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:37 am
NTstateOFmind says:
@Aron
because his father owns the JB company? if you give a player that exception, where does it end? next player down the road has a father that owns his own headband company …does he get the same treatment as marcus? doubt it. on principle alone he SHOULD be able to, right?
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:40 am
Chicagorilla says:
Why do some you idiots take this as an opportunity to kick MJ’s sons in the balls? It’s (as Chazz Michael Michaels would say) mind bottling. It’s like your tampons are still bleeding for MJ so bad, that you will hate on his sons, thinking that you are somehow getting back at MJ.
As for the shoes, of course he shouldn’t wear Addidas. And hopefully this causes him to transfer to a better school anyway. Marcus shouldn’t have gone to that school in the first place. There were plenty other Mid Majors he could have gone to. They are just using him anyway, probably never actually watched him play before they offered him a scholly.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:46 am
Kobeef says:
Man, MJ should have picked a wife with better genes.
When your dad one of the greatest athletes off all time and you end up playing mid-major bBall…you gotta think mom didn’t bring much to the table.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:46 am
control says:
For every reason it’s not easy being Michael Jordan’s son, there is one main reason that makes up for it: Michael Jordan is your dad, he’s as rich as god and you got someone good to practice against.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:53 am
Rare Air says:
Dude is born royalty – let him wear the sneaks. Three Stripes can crab all they want but this is an exceptional case. Marcus brings a ton of attention to UCF which is a benefit to them. Hell, this story alone is getting pub for a basketball team which otherwise might not have had much. He will no doubt sell more tickets and ad space, if the price to pay for that is letting him wear Airs then so be it.
I’m sure Skip Bayless or some chode would make the argument that these are college athletes who should be honored to play for the university and have their school paid for, blah, blah, blah. College Athletics is a huge business and anyone who discredits that is fooling themselves.
Give Marcus and his Old Man some respect UCF, you’re the ones that will look like the bad guys here.
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
@kobeef
Ha ha isn’t his mom, Juanita, a Latina? Marcus and his brother should’ve chose baseball or soccer. We got those sports on lock.
By the way the real MJ’s new ladyfriend is Cuban and has a nice round booty. She’s not really a dime though.
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:16 pm
loc says:
STFU WEAR ADIDAS AND PLAY BASKETBALL.
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Mike says:
There’s a better reason not to wear Adidas – their basketball shoes aren’t much better than the moccasins worn by Native Americans.
If for some reason you need to travel back in time and hunt some deer with a bow and arrow, go ahead and get yourself some adidas hoop shoes. If you want to ball, look elsewhere.
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Name (required) says:
marcus should man up and stop acting like a baby. hes part of a team that has a contract where everyone in that team wears adidas shoes. simple enough really.
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:37 pm
BiG ShoT BoB says:
Yeah plus adidas look weak as hell when it comes to bball kicks nike whoops that ass 9 times out of 10. Jordan should just donate 6 mill or buy there contract out. Hell with his money he could buy the school and rename it Jordan U…LOL
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:45 pm
DCB says:
Why does it even matter? Who cares if he wears adidas or Jordans while riding pine?
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Ian says:
Spliff
If he plays baseball then his fathers genes come into play and fuck that up. He better go for soccer.
Chicagorilla
What?
The kid needs to shut up and play with what the team is going to use. Someone made a good point about the headband thing.
And on the title of the article yeah its really hard knowing u can suck at every sport and be the dumbest fuck ever and still be set for life. Too fuckin hard.
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:22 pm
jvedo says:
as i remember kobe got out off his adidas deal because the shoes hurt his feet just food 4 thought young man.
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Jeff Chen says:
I say Jordan Brand just sponsors UCF!
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Cha-Ching says:
I believe that athletes should wear whatever shoes they feel comfortable with. Shoes can affect feet (arch support), knees, and back (certain cushioning). Once you got a pair of shoes that you trust you should stick with them. I understand if you have to wear the uni and all because a uni probably will not alter your performance, unless the uni is some nut huggers and play into the self esteem issue like the Lakers did a few years back. They ended up taking them off at half-time cause players could not concentrate. In the NFL and NBA you have to wear the sponsored brand uni’s, BUT NOT THE SHOES. I can’t wear kswiss because they don’t support my arches and the soles be hard, that is why I stick with Nike personally.
He may have to go the colored tape route if adidas’s contract is solid.
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Cha-Ching says:
Some of you have not watched Marcus play. He is not terrible, its that he is combo guard and he need to get to 6′4 and not stop at 6,1. He is better then his brother thou. He lead Whitney Young HS the Illinois State 4A Championship last year. Just thinking positive, he is going through a Mike Bibby/Arizona type situation.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:05 pm
yoda says:
it doesn’t matter that his dad owne jordan brand or what ever. he’s not kid anymore, why don’t he try to make career for him self, and not by being jordans son or what ever.
October 22nd, 2009 at 3:16 pm
kevin k says:
why hate on the kid. if your dad or family that you cared about owned a shoes brand, you will wear your family logo.
the only ones getting benefit out of this is the school with the publicity. if i was MJ, i would get the older MJ to just cover that 3 million 6 year deal with the Jordan logo. I’m pretty sure all the players would rather wear the Js than addidas.
October 22nd, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Chise says:
I go to UCF and Marcus definitely isn’t a scrub, people just seem to wanna hate since he’s MJ’s son and he isn’t a phenom. Regardless, he should definitely just lace up his J’s and throw some tape over the jumpman. Problem solved. Either that or like someone else said, Michael Jordan could just start sponsoring UCF’s athletic teams himself. What’s $3,000,001 to MJ?
October 22nd, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Jay-Are says:
he should wear whatever his teammates wear…no special treatment
October 22nd, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Da_Griff says:
He should wear what his teammates wear… BULL!
He was recruited on the basis that he could wear those shoes. He should immediately transfer to a school that isn’t going to lie to him.
Is that how they’re going to handle his education too? Give him information without any factual basis? Not a good example to be setting your students AT ALL.
October 22nd, 2009 at 5:11 pm
T.J. says:
Does it really matter to Adidas that one player on the team won’t be wearing their shoes? lol
October 22nd, 2009 at 6:17 pm
JC says:
@31
Yes, it matters to Adidas.
So many connectors to whats going wrong in our society – the entitlement issues of a kid who has earned nothing on a college stage. This is about an all athletics department college deal, not about one kid on a team. I loathe the idea of some sort of special treatment because your dad is a celeb. If the jordan brand company wanted to do a deal with the team they would. Maybe Marcus should be sweating pops about getting that done for the team. Otherwise it must not matter that much to MJ himself… which in turn means the child of Jordan should not care at all…
October 22nd, 2009 at 7:54 pm
jr says:
let lil mj wear his J’s
October 22nd, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Pet Society Help says:
This is the sole reason they recruited this bum, how else would UCF get National/Dime press, guy averaged 10 points a game as a senior for heavens sake, even I averaged more than him in high school.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:12 pm
loc says:
Transfer schools based on sneakers???? That is completely ridiculous!
University is when you are supposed to come out from your parents wings and become your own person, for a “Jordan” maybe that means having to face the shame of wearing Adidas so yuo get a shot to do your own thing at the D1 level.
And come on people, Adidas vs. Jordan Brand? Sure Nike is better sneakers but it’s not like Adidas are going to ruin your feet and future life. They are quality sneakers. Dudes wore Chucks for years and still ar efine.
October 23rd, 2009 at 2:43 am
sans says:
I loved playing in Chucks. I used to move so fast in high school in Chucks that my soles would heat up. Its crazy. There’s no shoe like that today.
I think Mike might just shill out the $3M out of pocket for shits and giggles–he’s got it. Claim it as a tax write-off, whatever…Adidas is dumb to nickle and dime, calling a breach of contract that can easily be replaced. And who buys Adidas team shoes other than colleges and High Schools anyways (or any team shoes for that matter)? Not like UCF hits a ton of tvs every year. This ish is ridiculous.
October 23rd, 2009 at 2:57 am
rick773 says:
They need to let him rock his J’s. They recruited him under false-pretense. And people calling him a scrub need to fall back…Is he going to be the greatest player to play the game Probably not….But to place those expectations on him based of his pops is LUDICROUS…..However if Mike would’ve married Cheryl Miller instead of Juanita we might’ve been talking about the next D-WADE
October 23rd, 2009 at 9:03 am
Chicagorilla says:
Marcus Riding the pine at a mid-major?…. seriously. He led one of the most talented teams in Chicago to a state Chip in one of the toughest basketball states! Put him somewhere in Alabama and he avgs 30ppg easy. Any idiot who is making comments about his talent based on his HS rankings, remember that Gilbert Arenas was ranked very low coming out of HS and Kwame Brown, Tyson Chandler an Eddy Curry was ranked #1. Rankings don’t mean shit. This kid can flat out play ball.
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Dean says:
Well said post #28.
Agree totally.
October 24th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
jvedo says:
this kid is way better than advertised he has been quitly tearin up summer leaqes for 2 years now
October 25th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Amos Leak says:
I don’t care how much it would cost him…Marcus needs to show up every game with his J’s cuz he could have been at another program and on the real..that’s the only reason this school is getting this type of attention this year….if it wasn’t for him..nobody would talk about about UCF..and everybody knows that..so they mind as well break their contract wit adidas..and get wit jordan cuz Marcus deserves what he was promised….matter fact..he should of had it in writing, so he could have had a contract also. The whole thing is a business anyway.