In today's seemingly heartening story from the progressive side of sports, Maya Moore has become the first women's basketball player to sign with Jordan Brand, a Nike subsidiary with an elite group of endorsers that includes Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, and Dwyane Wade. Good for Nike and for Moore: this is a fantastic marriage of a great, dynamic player, one of the best women's basketball has ever seen at the collegiate level, and one of the world's foremost brands.
Maya Moore Becomes First Women’s Basketball Player Signed To Jordan Brand: What Took So Long?
But one question: why did this take so long?
Moore's not actually the first woman on Jordan Brand's Team Jordan. That would be April Holmes, a Paralympic champion who calls herself the "world's fastest amputee." But aren't Holmes and Moore more prominent in their fields than Jordan Brand endorsers Jared Jeffries, Bobby Simmons, and Quentin Richardson are?
Do you even know if Bobby Simmons is still in the NBA? I’ll wait: you’re going to need some time to Google up the fact that he played in two games for the Spurs in 2010-11. Hell, he’s not even the most famous person named Bobby Simmons anymore. And yet he has had a Jordan Brand deal, while no female baller had had one until today.
There are obviously business reasons for this reluctance to sign a woman. I’d guess Nike can sell more Jared Jeffries shoes than it can ... well, I have no idea who Jeffries’ female parallel is, but that woman is not selling shoes. And if Nike was waiting to make a splash in this market, there are far worse stars to hitch itself to than Maya Moore.
But if Mike Bibby can be a Jordan Brand representative, couldn't Ticha Penechiero have been one? Diana Taurasi wasn't a more worthy tentpole than Michael Finley? Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker, maybe the most marketable women's basketball players ever, couldn't have gotten a deal, but D.J. Augustin still has one?
Nike does a lot of good in marketing to both women and men, and has a history of empowerment. But taking credit for choosing a woman to endorse your product for the first time in 2011? That’s the sort of thing that rankles.
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