Hold the backpage
And what have the 2013 and 1986 sons in common? They were both christened, well, Diego.
This, of course, is not an uncommon occurrence in the sporting world, George Foreman, rather famously, being the possessor of five sons called George – George jnr, George III, George IV, George V and George VI.
As he explained a few years back, “if you’re going to get hit as many times as I’ve been hit by Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Evander Holyfield – you’re not going to remember many names,” which was fair enough.
It will, though, always be hard to top the name the late Emlyn Hughes gave his first-born, which half suggested he might have been anticipating a boy.
It was a girl, as it turned out.
Her name: Emma Lynn. After that? A boy. Name? Emlyn jnr. Naturally.
At 50, Jordan is still raking it in and walking on Air
If (a) you’re a basketball fan and (b) you’re already feeling old, look away now: Michael Jordan will be 50 tomorrow.
So, how is the man, hailed by many as the greatest player of all time, holding up financially a decade after his retirement? Not bad at all, as a Forbes headline suggested this week: “How Michael Jordan Still Earns $80 Million a Year.”
The bulk of that comes from his association with Nike, his branded basketball shoes still cornering, remarkably, 58 per cent of the American market. Sales were up by 30 per cent in 2012, with the brand now generating $1.75 billion globally.
His original five-year deal with Nike back in the 1980s? A pittance at $500,000 annually.
LeBron James, according to Forbes, is the top-seller among current NBA players with shoe deals, “but Jordan outsold him by a 6 to 1 margin in 2012 in the US.” That margin might just increase in 2013 with the release of the Air Jordan XX8, the 28th shoe in the Jordan franchise.
He has several other “corporate partners”, including Gatorade, owns six restaurants, a car dealership, a motorsports team and has an 80 per cent stake in the Charlotte Bobcats, the North Carolina basketball team, which Forbes values at $315 million – and rising. Jordan’s net worth is, they estimate, $650 million.
So, he’s doing grand. And, among sports people, only Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and David Beckham have more fans on Facebook. The legend lives on, then, 10 years after hanging up his Air Jordans.
