Michael Jordan’s son, Marcus, is already causing commotion at the University of Central Florida. According to the AP, the Freshman has refused to wear the team’s Adidas brand shoes when he steps on the court this season. Marcus will only rock his fathers Nike Air Jordan shoes because “it holds special meaning to his family.”
Personally, I think MJ’s son has a legitimate reason for not wearing his team shoes. But isn’t college basketball more about the team and not the individual? How would it look if Marcus was the only one on the team wearing brand new Jordan’s that haven’t been released yet?
On a more serious note, the University of Central Florida has a 3 million dollar, six-year contract with Adidas. This contract requires all UCF athletes and coaches to use only Adidas apparel and equipment. If Marcus wears his fathers Nike’s this will clearly be a breach of contract and with the last name of Jordan, it is likely to cause a big scene.
Adidas said they were aware of Marcus Jordan’s attendance at UCF and on the basketball team, and will be working to resolve this “unique” situation without causing too much controversy.
Although this may not seem like a big deal and some of you may think little MJ should be able to wear his fathers shoes, it has very serious legal and athletic ramifications for UCF. If Adidas and UCF can’t find a middle ground with this situation and Marcus wears Nikes, the University may be liable for breach and owe damages up to $3 million dollars to Adidas. On the opposite side, if UCF does not allow Marcus to bend the rules and amend the contract, they may lose Marcus Jordan (if he cannot be persuaded to switch to Adidas).
The battle of the footwear seems silly but surely has some serious ramifications for UCF.
4 replies on “Would Jordan Ever Wear Adidas Shoes?”
When did UCF sign the contract with Adidas. I assume before Marcus signed with UCF. If that is the case, Marcus needs to honor his deal with UCF. He could have had the LOI and/or scholarship changed so that he was allowed to wear NIKES. If he was going to make such a big deal about this, then he should have only looked at and signed with a NIKE school.
If it means that much to Marcus, have his father donate x amount of money to the university. Make it enough to cover the $3 million of losses from losing the Adidas contract as well as some for the troubles…
They’ve gotten as much exposure as they’re going to from this and any more is going to go against the “all press is good press” adage. If Marcus is not going to be a team player here, then he’s got to go.
he can wear nikes and put tape over the logos.
plenty of professional sports organizations have
as for MJ footing the bill for the breach – 3 mill to wear nikes? really?
[…] details have arisen regarding a previous post: Would Jordan Ever Wear Adidas Shoes. After the incident became public, Marcus still refused to wear the team’s Adidas brand shoes on […]