As you may have heard, Marcus Jordan (you know who's son) wore a pair of Air Jordans during an exhibition against St. Leo. By doing so, UCF was failing to comply to the terms of a five year agreement with Adidas (the contract was in its final year, but UCF was working on negotiating a new six-year $3 million agreement).
Adidas promptly terminated the contract with UCF.
The situation has turned some head and generated some negative backlash. I have found the situation to be particularly interesting, because of the mixed reactions across the board. Many people are calling Marcus, "a spoiled brat" for failing to abide by the same terms as all the other players on the UCF team.
Others point the finger at UCF, who apparently promised him the right to wear his fathers brand when he signed with the school. Yet, some point the finger at Adidas.
Like former Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro, who said, "What a PR nightmare for Adidas. This should have been a no-brainer, It's nothing but a personal thing against Michael Jordan.''
Although Vaccaro's opinion may be a bit biased, he is not the only one that feels the way he does. The UCF Athletics sponsorship released a statement saying that “During Marcus’ recruitment to UCF we received assurances from Adidas that he would be permitted to wear his father’s footwear without ending the Adidas contract."
Right now I, like many, have mixed feelings about the ordeal. I understand that Marcus Jordan is sort of basketball royalty, even though he only scored one point in 23 minutes of action against St. Leo, but why would adidas make such a big deal about it.
UCF is not going to be playing on national TV every week, and its not like anyone is going to think anything of Michael Jordan's son wearing Jordans.
On the other hand, I feel like Marcus Jordan should not be allowed to exempt team rules just because he is MJ's son. I mean if anyone else on the UCF basketball team in years past had decided that they wanted to play Nikes, they wouldn't have been allowed to because of the contract with Adidas. All in all I think too much was made of a silly sneaker war.
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