A federal judge is making Michael Jordan show up to court this week to testify in a lawsuit regarding an ad that was published six years ago that used his likeness without permission.
Jordan had requested "special accommodations," presumably to allow his attorneys to argue the case on his behalf. But the judge wrote in his order that “all litigants stand equal before the law," so Jordan is expected to attend, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Jordan is seeking damages for a grocery store chain using his name and famous number 23 to hawk steak at a $2.00 discount. Here's what the ad looked like:
The most interesting aspect of all of this might be the disclosure of exactly how much Jordan earns from each of his many endorsers. Nike, Gatorade, Upper Deck and 2K Sports have all requested restricted courtroom access because of this, but the judge has yet to rule on that request.
Update:
During jury selection today, 13 of 14 potential jurors raised their hands when asked if they'd seen Jordan play basketball. Right afterward a more humbling total of zero raised their hands when asked if they considered Mike "an idol or personal hero."
We also got a court sketch of Mike that would've made a third grade art teacher kind of proud:
[via My Fox Chicago]
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