MICHAEL JORDAN has spent the past two days giving a
deposition in a lawsuit against him, according to Jerry Bonkowski
of USA TODAY. Jordan and his agent, DAVID FALK, are reportedly
being sued for $28M by producers of the '91 movie "Heaven in a
Playground." The producers claim breach of contract, saying
Jordan "backed out of an agreement to appear in the film" (USA
TODAY, 1/11)....CHARLES BARKLEY said he is not going to let
recent rumors of a possible trade affect him. Barkley: "The last
time I checked, I had about $20 million -- and that was before
the new McDonald's deal. I thought about cashing in my Nike
stock, too, but it split, so I am just going to hang onto it"
(PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 1/11)....In Chicago, Philip Hersch
writes on the challenges facing skaters in choosing between
"grabbing a fistful now and building a reputation for the
future." Noted is NICOLE BOBEK, who spent December 10-30 with
the Nutcracker on Ice "rather than staying home to train for the
national championships" -- and later, healing an injured ankle.
Bobek's financial advisor is STEVE DISSON, whose D&F Group
brought in the Nutcracker's sponsorship. Disson: "Nicole didn't
do the Nutcracker just for financial reasons. It was a dream of
hers to do this show." Disson said, despite the injury, "no one
pressured" Bobek to continue with the show (CHICAGO TRIBUNE,
1/11)... NBA Commissioner DAVID STERN was at the Univ of
Michigan's Business School yesterday to accept their leadership
award (DETROIT NEWS, 1/11)....The following will be recognized at
the 18th Int'l Sports Summit, February 1-2 in Atlanta: NIKE as
"Foremost Sports Sponsor of the Year"; USOC and ACOG as joint
winners of the "Balance of Payment Award"; the IHL for "Turn
Around Award"; AMERICA WEST ARENA for "Foremost Sports Facility
of the Year"; and the CHARLOTTE REGIONAL SPORTS COMMISSION as
"Foremost Sports Commission" (Sports Summit)
