While NBA fans who are lucky enough to get playoff tickets will file out of each game wearing pretty much anything that has their team’s branding on it, the players they worship will be making completely different choices—and every apparel brand out there would love for that choice to involve them.

In last year’s Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat, the Thunder’s Russell Westbrook let the world know that he thought he was responsible for the hipster trend to wear funky lensless glasses, USA Today recalls.

The playoffs just started this past weekend but it’s already gotten off to a good jump on the fashion front as the Heat’s LeBron James dropped some jaws (and not in a good way) with his Tommy Bahama-esque shirt and James Harden of the Houston Rockets showed up for post-game interviews wearing a shirt that involved a whole lot of pleather. Los Angeles Clippers stars Blake Griffin and Chris Paul also got into the act. Russell Westbrook wore a sleeveless leather top and gold bedazzled high tops after his team’s game Sunday.Continue reading...

Some of the shine has started to come off of Michael Jordan’s once-seemingly eternal luster. Being the owner of the NBA’s worst team, by far, as well as being very anti-player during the last strike has left some not loving Jordan these days.

While Jordan isn’t named in the lawsuit, one of the products with the name of His Airness place don it by the folks at Nike has raised the ire of an energy-drink company. Urban Motive Sportswear is going after Nike for using the phrase “lottery pick” in its “Jordan LS Lottery Pick Jacket,” according to The Urban Daily.

UMS has been selling an energy drink called Lottery Pick since 2004 and it claims that Nike’s product has been hurting the sales of their drink, especially in Chicago where Jordan led the Bulls to six NBA championships.  The suit has it that Nike’s product “damaged [UMS] in a manner that cannot be fully measured or compensated in economic terms and for which there is not adequate remedy at law.” UMS “even claims to have gifted Jordan’s sons some of their merchandise,” The Urban Daily notes.

And to make matters worse for Brand Jordan (as opposed to Jordan Brand, his Nike-backed shoe line), he's coming under fire for an endorsement pitch for Gatorade, with a consumer watchdog criticizing the implied message to youths.Continue reading...

Everybody loves Michael Jordan, right? The ultimate brand spokesman, who won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls, has been affiliated with a slew of brands in his 48 years: Nike (which produces his lucrative Jordan Brand line), Coca-Cola, Gatorade, MCI, McDonald’s, Chevrolet, Wheaties, Rayovac, Ball Park Franks, and Hanes.

Since March of 2010, he’s been the majority owner of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats, the first former player to hold such a title. Since he’s seen both sides of the coin, you’d think that when the NBA lockout occurred, Jordan would have been able to help broker a deal between the players and his fellow owners.

Instead, Jordan went hard-line against the players, not wanting to give in an inch, and reportedly getting fined by the NBA for his public comments. Now that the lockout's end is looming, one wonders how much his sudden tough-guy appearance hurt his brand.Continue reading...

Point guard Derrick Rose couldn’t afford Air Jordans when he was growing up in the Windy City, but now the 23-year-old league MVP is in Michael Jordan’s shoes as the star of the Chicago Bulls with his very own shoe line with Adidas and his very own cool commercial.

The adiZero Rose 2 came out in Chicago this past Saturday and Rose was at two different stores in Chicago to celebrate the occasion, the Daily Herald reports.

The paper also points out that the “All Flights Canceled” wording on the adiZero’s tongue seemed to be directly getting up in the face of the Jordan-brand shoes, such as Air Jordan and Fly Wade, which is named for Miami Heat star and fellow Chicago native, Dwyane Wade.

Rose, however, says that wording came about in a different way.Continue reading...

Oakland Raiders running back Darren McFadden may be a rising star, but he has a long way to go to take on the king, by which we mean Michael Jordan.

MJ hasn’t played professional basketball since 2003 and hasn’t won a championship since 1998, yet he has one of the strongest, shiniest brands of any celebrity out there.

Forbes estimates “that Jordan earned $60 million over the past year mainly through his endorsement deals with Nike, Gatorade, Hanes, Upper Deck, 2K Sports and Five Star Fragrances.” Of course, he also has five restaurants and a car dealership of his own in North Carolina. Plus, he’s got a day job as the majority owner of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats.

During Jordan’s playing days he was earning $50 million annually at his peak from sponsorships. While many of his sponsors have been with him for some time, Forbes notes that 2K signed him last year to be on the cover of NBA 2K11, which went on to sell five million panels  and become the best-selling NBA video game in history.

Jordan's deal with Nike started when he graduated from college in 1984. The five-year deal, worth $2.5 million, must have felt like big bucks to him then. The Jordan brand now pulls in more than $1 billion annually, “with MJ getting a piece of the action,” the site notes. “The Jordan Brand’s market share of the U.S. basketball shoe market is 71% according to SportsOneSource,” Forbes reports.Continue reading...

Karmin, the hip-hop loving (and covering) duo otherwise known as Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan, broke out last month with a Chris Brown cover, prompting YouTube to highlight the Bostonians, who are described by the Boston Herald as "smalltown sweethearts" who are engaged to be married. 

They've since signed a record deal, appeared on Ellen and Ryan Seacrest's shows, and were hired by the NBA — not for a cover, but for an original song. 

Karmin's Take It Away is used in the 30-second promo, above, for the 2011 NBA Finals, in which the Miami Heat will face off against the Dallas Mavericks in a best-of-seven games series starting Tuesday night.

The NBA and its Players Association are getting ready for major contractual standoff this summer that could end up putting them right where the NFL is right now: With owners locking out players and the fans growing increasingly annoyed by their backroom maneuverings.

If it gets to the point where actual games are missed because of the wrangling, fans will at least have one place to turn: video games.Continue reading...

Weekend news: Lance Armstrong's former teammate, Tyler Hamilton, accuses him of taking performance-enhancing drugs (including during a Tour de France) in an interview on CBS's 60 Minutes — a charge the cycling champ denies. Click here to watch part 1 and part 2 of Hamilton's interview.

Also: Lady Gaga pops up on NBC's Saturday Night Live (and in a Google commercial); Tim Pawlenty confirms he's running for president; Beyonce, Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift earn Billboard nods; Disney's box office Pirates booty; the Miami Heat's Chris Bosh and LeBron James prevail against the Chicago Bulls' MVP Derrick Rose; and more.Continue reading...