Jordan’s shadow hangs over new NBA season

Jordan was a silent, but hard-driving owner in the NBA’s labor lockout, determined to beat up the sport’s players in the board room the way that he always did on the court. All these years later, the Chicago Bulls are a championship contender again, and the residue of the sneaker explosion born out of Jordan’s marketability probably makes the title path a little tougher for the Bulls.
For now, Dwight Howard has delivered the Magic a list of three teams that can trade for him this season with the assurance he’ll sign a contract extension with them: the Los Angeles Lakers, New Jersey Nets and Dallas Mavericks. The Bulls have the most attractive package of young players – and the possibility of draft picks – for the Magic, but the NBA that Jordan created for superstar players is a significant part of the reason that Howard will take a pass on Chicago.

Adidas has two franchise endorsers: Derrick Rose and Howard. Rose signed a $94 million extension with the Bulls, and sources say Adidas is working on a lifetime shoe deal for him now.

And as one high-ranking sneaker executive says, “Adidas simply cannot have its two signature players on the same team in the same market. … Derrick is the face of that market, owns that market, and Adidas can’t possibly have maximum bang for its buck with Dwight there.

“It serves Adidas no purpose. They need them as rivals in competing markets.”
Howard knows this, too. He has an Adidas renewal on deck in the next year, and Los Angeles and Brooklyn guarantee him maximum money. The shoes aren’t the sole season, but it’s a reality. In an NBA where the owners want the superstars worth $50 million and more to make far less than market value, it’s hard to imagine you’ll get them to take far less on endorsements.

And as had been the case with LeBron James’ free agency, Rose will never go out of his way to convince Howard this is a trade that he ought to push. “Derrick is too loyal to the guys he plays with to get involved with doing that,” a source close to Rose said. “It wasn’t his nature [to recruit] with LeBron, and it still isn’t now.”

For the record, Adidas’ vice president for global basketball, Lawrence Norman, says: “As a partner, we’re completely supportive of Dwight with whatever decision he makes. He’s an outstanding partner with broad appeal to fans across the world.”

Norman is telling the truth: Adidas will still pay Howard well wherever he winds up, but Orlando and Chicago won’t get him paid and marketed the way Los Angeles and Brooklyn will.