By Perry Green
AFRO Sports Editor
Central Florida's Marcus Jordan, son of Michael Jordan, looks up during his team's NCAA college basketball exhibition game against St. Leo on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, in Orlando, Fla. A fight over the shoes Marcus Jordan will wear at UCF has cost the school any future sponsorship with adidas. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Jason Greene)
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(November 5, 2009) - (Nov. 8, 2009) Not long ago, we discovered that NBA legend Michael Jordan, who made Nike perhaps the most popular athletic shoe company in the country during his rise to fame in the 1980s, came very close to signing with Adidas instead. Of course, MJ chose Nike, and the rest is history.
Decades later, a Jordan has once again chosen Nike over Adidas.
University of Central Florida freshman guard Marcus Jordan, the legend’s son, sported a pair of white Air Jordans during an exhibition game against Saint Leo on Nov. 4, The Associated Press reported. But his school had a sponsorship contract with Adidas requiring all of the players to wear its apparel and equipment.
“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 AP. “As a result we have chosen not to continue our relationship with them moving forward.”
According to the AP, Jordan said he will only wear his father’s Nike Air Jordan shoes because they carry special value to his family’s name.
“We are disappointed to learn that Adidas has chosen to discontinue its relationship with UCF Athletics,” UCF spokesman Joe Hornstein said in a brief school statement. “Once we receive official notice we will be able to further respond.”
According to the AP, UCF was in the final year of a five-year contract with Adidas, so Nike Air Jordans could become the new apparel of choice for the school.