MARCUS JORDAN, AIR TO THE THRONE?
Son of basketball legend plays in Newark Invitaitonal
By Matt Whitfield
Michael Jordan’s basketball playing days are over while his highlights and accolades will never to be forgotten. However, following in his footsteps are his two sons Jeffrey, a former walk-on sophomore now on scholarship at Illinois averaging 1.2 points and 1.2 assists a game in 19 contests, and Marcus, a senior at Whitney Young High School in Chicago. Marcus Jordan is said to be the better of the two brothers at basketball, and recruiting services rank him as a mid-level prospect. Even if Marcus wasn’t even a basketball player, his life would be interesting, but put the son of the greatest basketball player ever to play the game on the hardwood and that takes things to a whole different level.
When seeing Marcus Jordan upon first glance you don’t say to yourself that’s Michael Jordan’s son but you do see a definite resemblance. Like his father, Marcus is over six foot as he is listed at a seemingly accurate 6-foot-3 with a very athletic build for a high school senior and plays Dad’s position of shooting guard. Marcus looks to have greathandle, with a shooters touch; however, at times shot selection could be better. Marcus told NBE that he holds offers from Oklahoma and Toledo, and that his dad, who is handling the recruiting process, is fielding inquiries from other schools. Marcus is currently in his senior year at Whitney Young high school, a top ranked Illinois basketball school with at least four nationally recruited players besides himself. Marcus told NBE that he’s comfortable with being either a role player or leader; which ever is needed, as he’s knows the talent level on his team is very high.
On being Michael Jordan’s son, Marcus told NBE that, “It’s cool, I don’t really look at like it’s a big deal, but you know when I was growing up it was pretty tough, but I got accustomed to it.”
Marcus also added the attention he gets in following in his dad’s footsteps on the hardwood can be tough too as, “after every game we have like a long long talk about just the whole game and he’ll break down and criticize everything I do. It’s helpful, and sometimes [it’s like] ugh I’m messing up that bad, but I deal with it.”
Marcus told NBE that his favorite childhood memory of his dad was when, “ Me and my brother and my dad used to play 1 on 1 on 1 cut throat and it used to get pretty intense,” adding that he acutely remembered beating his dad on two occasions out of many games.