Adi-dissed?
November 5, 2009
Marcus Jordan clearly wants to walk in his father's shoes. But doing so has turned out to be harder than he thought - in fact, it's turned into a diss of million-dollar proportions.
On Wednesday, the University of Central Florida and German sporting-goods company Adidas learned the hard way that blood is sometimes thicker than even a massive wad of money, when the son of legendary Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan stepped into a pair of Nikes instead of Adidas basketball shoes, as planned.
Now, the fight over what shoes Marcus Jordan can wear when he plays basketball for UCF means the school may have lost a $3-million-dollar sponsorship deal with Adidas.
Marcus wore a pair of white Air Jordans - the Nike shoe made famous by his father - during an exhibition game between UCF and St. Leo on Wednesday night, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
But 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, which is distinctively marked with three black stripes.
Deal or no deal?
Regional Adidas representatives say they had made a deal with the university to allow Marcus Jordan to wear the plain white Nikes, but Adidas higher-ups later begged to differ. Now, they say they will pull their funding.
Adidas was seemingly unmoved by the fact that Marcus wore black ankle cuffs distintively marked with the Adidas logo, on top of his Nikes.
In correspondence published by the Associated Press, a spokeswoman for Adidas said the school has "chosen not to deliver on their contractual commitment to Adidas," and that, in turn, the company will not continue its relationship with the school.
The news has not been officially given to UCF yet, however. While the school said it was "disappointed" by the possible loss of funding, UCF spokesman Joe Hornstein said they would respond further "once we receive official notice."
Meanwhile, the sting of the loss may have been offset by the win in the exhibition game, where UCF beat St. Leo, 84 to 65.
jen/AP/AFP/Reuters
Editor: Deanne Corbett