Marcus Jordan Wears Dad's Shoes, Blows School's $3 Million Adidas Deal

ORLANDO, Fla. — A fight over the shoes Michael Jordan's son will wear at the University of Central Florida has cost the school any future sponsorship with adidas.

"The University of Central Florida has chosen not to deliver on their contractual commitment to adidas," adidas spokeswoman Andrea Corso wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "As a result we have chosen not to continue our relationship with them moving forward."

Freshman guard Marcus Jordan wore a pair of white Air Jordans during UCF's 84-65 win in an exhibition game against Saint Leo on Wednesday night, the Orlando Sentinel reported on its Web site. Jordan has said he will only wear his father's Nike Air Jordan shoes because they hold special meaning to his family.

UCF is in the final year of a five-year contract with adidas that requires coaches and athletes to use the company's apparel and equipment.

"We are disappointed to learn that adidas has chosen to discontinue its relationship with UCF Athletics," the school said in a statement Wednesday night released by spokesman Joe Hornstein. "Once we receive official notice we will be able to further respond."

Comments

[seedoubleyou]

When the schools start paying their athletes a salary THEN they can make them endorse products for bug corporations. Till then, leave them alone.

[TruthJusticeForAll]

If the best school he can play in is UCF, he is not very good. Bench him or better still, throw him off of the team. He owes loyalty to his father's shoes???

[powerlift2201]

It's obvious that the school and the team supported him. Addidas was most likely looking for a reason to pull their sponsorship deal.

[markdavida]

Every athlete has the right to chose his equipment; shoes. I run and would never let a coach tell me what to wear, except the team uniform. Shoes are not part of a uniform. And this kid has every right to choose his shoes. For whatever reason. Good for the uni for not backing down. M. J. would be a fool not to sign this deal for NIke. Great publicity.

[UKBlue]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-sportsucf-shoes-06110609nov06,0,3043534.story

The University and the Athletics Department support the young man wearing the Nikes.

[powerlift2201]

I seem to remember a similar situation with a football player some years ago. He had i a deal with a shoe company other than the school's sponsor - Nike - for another sport that he played and wore their shoes. Nike was upset but they didn't pull their sponsorhip.

[Dietcokefreak]

I wish this article would be updated. It leave out a lot! Check out Orlandosentinel.com if you're interested.

[pipetoe]

What a jerk!

[Jupitersky]

I can't believe Marcus Jordan is that self centered to think he can wear any shoes he wants. That's NOT what his father represented when he played. When you're part of the team you make the decision to sacrifice your individuality to make the team better. This is just a selfish way of saying- "I'm Michael Jordan's son- look at me look at me." And he thinks because he's "Marcus Jordan" he can do anything he wants. Their just shoes but the school and the team have commitments. If you don't want to do the little things like wear the same shoes you're not much of a team player.

Now he could be a pawn, being used by everyone to get a more lucrative Nike contract. But this seems more like the actions of a selfish kid.

[powerlift2201]

Marcus is showing loyalty to his dad, which is where his loyalty should lie. Athletes are told that it is family first. There was also a similar incident a few years ago. A football player (I believe) didn't wear Nike shoes and there wasn't a big hoopla about it and Nike didn't pull the sponsorship deal.

I'm sure Addidas is using Marcus to pull their $3 million; they were probably planning to end the contract anyway.

[AnnArky]

Way to go Adidas!

Your PR department must be headed by some former Wall Street genius.

[mamala4]

Ask Michael to throw in the three mil...so not a problem....

[GlassMask]

I wore the stupid school uniform for twelve years of Catholic school. When I got to college, I didn't take mandatory fashion advice from anybody, and haven't since.

[2farnorth]

I'm sure Nike is ALL OVER THIS. They'll have a Nike contract by the end of next week.

[GhostNyc]

EXACTOMUNDO!!! Adidas you blew it ...really hard...

[Tom Gerdy - Huffpost Blogger]

If you want to learn some of the truth about college athletics and the dollars involved, I suggest that you read the book Air Ball, American Education's Failed Experiment With Elite Athletics. My brother, John R. Gerdy happens to be the author. The financial realities of college sports are rather disturbing. If you read the book I venture a guess that you will find much of it surprising and eye opening. My brother was a pretty good basketball player at Davidson College and I played left end of the bench for Virginia Tech's football team a few years back. We both saw many of the challenges college athletics faces first hand.

[THE JEDI 69]

Heck mike will pay the school 3 million a year.....next

[Bugweed]

That this is even a subject for discussion in an institution of supposedly higher education is one more reason to peal off college athletics and make the NFL and the NBA pay for their farm teams just like professional baseball. The schools can lease them the facilities, and the school name, and the players can still be paid (this time in real dollars rather than "scholarships" but not by the universities.) College athletics are the private porn of fat middle aged white men who couldn't play the games past grade school. Time to eliminate these pro departments and focus on education rather than entertainment.

[Sumocat]

Nice spin, adidas, but I think we all know the school won't be without a shoe sponsor for long.