Lincicome: Michael Jordan's back? Well his shoes are at least

The obligation to write about Michael Jordan has always been accepted without regret or reservation, once a requirement and now a reflection made necessary by redundant tributes to his legend and to his - I'm not kidding - his shoes.

Reports vary on the quality of a new movie about MJ's shoes, mostly favorable, though I am not the source on either, the movie or the shoes.

Checking the box office results, which I understand is what really matters, the Super Mario Brothers are kicking some serious MJ rump, and Jordan could have dunked both of them with each hand, poor Luigi first.

I am certain about this, however. Michael Jordan did not become the greatest basketball player of all time because of his shoes, any more than Secretariat became the greatest racehorse because of his hoofware. A missed marketing opportunity if ever there was one.

Jordan could have played basketball in Uggs and still been Jordan, though he might have had to pay Tom Brady a royalty.

Muhammad Ali did not become what he became because of roach traps, one of his more unfortunate, hopefully profitable, endorsements. Mike Ditka did not coach any better because of his choice of underwear, nor did Ditka lose any of the dignity he never had.

I do think that Joe Namath may have benefitted from pantyhose. As good an explanation as any for being a one-game wonder and Hall of Fame error. Eventually Terry Bradshaw stopped hiding his baldness under a toupee, which would explain a lot, if not enough.

Selling yourself for profit is an ancient profession and not Michael Jordan's fault, though everything modern surely is.

This would include the concession that college athletes - uh, excuse please, student/athletes - may sell their name, image and likeness (NIL) for whatever they can get, already in the millions for some, never mind that "image" and "likeness" are pretty much the same thing, a lesson from freshman English, no longer applicable to Alabama quarterbacks, if it ever was.

The athlete as billboard is no more obvious than in golf where perfectly good cotton is festooned with sponsorship logos, sleeve, chest and collar, as well as the cap, never removed until the final handshake.

Auto racing overdoes it with decals and sponsor patches, a risky business model assuming its fan base can read. I mean because the cars go so fast, not because ... well, think whatever you like.

Jordan's example has altered the focus of sports, maybe for the better, maybe for the worse. Athletes now get their worth, more than their worth, really. But you have to wonder if some kid shooting a three on the playground does not think that this is the shot to win the championship (Jordan actually did that. More than once.) but that this is the shot that will get me my own shoe.

LeBron James would not be a man of so much wealth and influence were it not for the MJ model. He is a successor and beneficiary to self-promotion, making more money from endorsements than from being the second or third greatest basketball player ever. Tiger Woods, another Nike staple, may never catch Jack Nicklaus, but he can always pick up the check.

Jordan became a brand and I suppose the story of how he became one is worth retelling, the tale of an underdog company reshoeing the feet of the globe, which, let's be honest, were perfectly happy in Dockers and Florsheim's.

Still, the basic plot of self-glory and the board room dudes who made it possible may not excite the dramatist as much as the capitalist. And Jordan is not even in the movie, a wise casting choice for anyone who has seen Space Jam.

Jordan was not a pioneer, after all, there being other sports idols who cashed in on their name, the first widely marketed being Babe Ruth. He had his own candy bar, though not the one still around, named after somebody's granddaughter.

Yet, when Babe Ruth is mentioned today someone might ask, "Oh, you mean the candy bar?" just as eventually someone will mention Michael Jordan and someone might say, "Oh, you mean the guy with the shoes."

In the meantime, thanks to a movie and to use one of MJ's more notable quotes, "I'm back!" Or at least his shoes are.