Michael Jordan has long been viewed as not only the best basketball player ever, but also as a savvy business man. Now it looks like the NBA is trying to switch up his game plan just a bit. Since MJ is an owner of an NBA franchise, the league is restricting his decision making when it comes to perhaps his biggest cash cow, the Jordan Brand. Jordan will not be allowed to decide which ballers get endorsement deals as the league beliefs that not only is it a huge conflict of interest but could also be seen as a way to lure in free agents to the Charlotte Hornets.
A scenario to break this down for the readers: let's say James Harden was still a sneaker free agent and was an NBA free agent as well. Now lets say the Charlotte Hornets only had $90 million to offer him and he was valued at $120 million on the open market. The NBA figures that all MJ had to do was make the $90M offer, offer him a shoe deal as well to make up the $30M as well as whatever they would pay him on a regular shoe deal. So say a regular shoe deal for him would be worth something like $70M, the math would add up like this: $90M (Hornets) + $100M (shoe deal including the extra $30M to make up NBA market value for the player).
The scenario above is one that we cooked up but could be what the NBA was thinking by restricting Jordan's dealings with players and endorsements. The league is taking salary cap rules into account and by doing this, trying to keep the playing field level for everyone.
What do you guys think about this new wrinkle in the rules for His Airness? Is it a fair ruling or is Mike getting the short end of the stick? Do you think Michael will challenge the rule? State your opinion in the comments and make sure to keep it locked with SneakerShouts for any and all updates regarding this matter.