A model of understatement

In his quiet way, Michael JOrdan makes a difference, and just as quietly, he is sensitive to social issues

Bestriding the worlds of basketball, media and marketing, Michael Jordan is TSN's Most Powerful Person in Sports. He is a magnificent Colossus with a floppy tongue.

Power comes m infinite and inscrutable forms. Among Jordan's many powers is an ability to withstand a recurring assault on his "social conscience" rooted in a 13 year association with Nike. Early in his career, criticism focused on Nike's pricing Air Jordans out of reach of low-income, minority youth. Recent criticism focuses on conditions and pay in Asian factories producing Nike shoes.

The pertinent question here is not Nike's manufacturing method--we leave that to Harvard economists and Reggie White. The question is should the issue involve Jordan, and if so, how?

Martina Navratilova, in November's Conde Nast Sportsfor Women, writes that Jordan "is a great athlete but not a great role model" and that he is "almost a textbook case of being politically ambiguous." Navratilova goes on to write, "Millions of youngsters are watching your every move. They need to figure out how to be like you without the talents you have.... It may be nice to sit on the fence, but you'll have to stand up eventually."

In her day, Navratilova could volley with the best of them, but here, at least on one point, she whiffs. Jordan "stands up" every day by showing up for work, well-prepared, enthusiastic and respectful. In emulating Jordan, kids must try their best, stay out of trouble and be positive. If Navratilova were a parent, she might better appreciate his example.

Moreover, Navratilova is suggesting that a star athlete must speak out on an important political-economic issue, but why? Since when does the superstar handbook require Jordan to be as vocal as Jackie Robinson or Muhammad Ali, both of whom were leaders on the hottest issues of their day, civil rights and Vietnam?

Jordan's style is different In the 1980s, with Nike, he broke through an invisible barrier preventing blacks from being product spokespersons. Jordan's acceptance by white consumers was a healthy sign, and perhaps a catalyst, in our ongoing racial healing. Now, in the 1990s, Jordan is forging ahead as CEO of his own "Jordan" brand, pricing shoes at 20 percent below Nike's, recognizing the limited resources of many of his fans.

Jordan speaks softly and carries a business plan. When he's done playing he wants to buy and run businesses. He isn't the first black athlete to go into business, but because of his resources and contacts he will do it on a scale beyond the reach of others. Certainly black capitalism, with jobs and development for black communities, is as important as political theater. If the point is to empower the disenfranchised, Jordan can do so, unless he becomes just a capitalist who is black

In his quiet way, Jordan makes a difference, and just as quietly, he is sensitive to the Nike issue. He should be, as someone making $15 million to $20 million a year as product spokesperson while factory workers make $2 a day, and more so as head of his own apparel and footwear division. Generally, he defends Nike, but as criticism mounts, Jordan is wondering if he knows enough to form an opinion. Consequently, he is planning a trip to Asia next summer.

"I'm hearing a lot of different sides to the issue, so I told (agent) David (Falk) that the best thing I can do is go to Asia and see it for myself," Jordan says. "it's important especially if I want to own my own shoe company and am the leading spokesperson with Nike. The last thing I want to do is pursue a business with a negative over my head that I don't have an understanding of. I'd rather search it out and have my own understanding.

"If there are issues, (Nike executives) have to revise the situation. If it's an issue of slavery or sweat shops, they have to revise the situation."

Characteristically, the proposed Asian mission is motivated by more than compassion. Another company he represents, as a spokesperson and board member, Oakley, Inc., manufactures high-tech sunglasses in Orange County. Oakley CEO Jim Jannard is trying to convince Jordan that American-made sunglasses and footwear can out-compete Asian-made goods. Jordan wants to know which approach is best.

"Oakley does a good job, and I admire that," Jordan says. "They began their business in the States. It's a great plan and pattern for future companies if it's economically feasible. I would hope if there are economical ways to make things here, not just Nike, but other companies would"

The Catch-22, of course, is that if goods are made in Orange County, low pay and abusive conditions won't be a problem for Asian workers because they won't have jobs, period. If Henry Ford, the father of "efficiency wage" theory, were around he might simply raise Asian workers to $5 a day, as he did auto workers m 1914, to his everlasting profit.