PHIL KNIGHT HAS NO LEY-WAY IN ESPN INTERVIEW ON JORDAN

          Nike offered company Chair Phil Knight for an interview
     on ESPN following Michael Jordan's retirement on Wednesday,
     but Nike "tried to control the media environment" and ESPN
     called it off, according to Phil Mushnick of the N.Y. POST. 
     ESPN planned to interview Knight during "SportsCenter," but
     was "told" by Nike that the show's host, Bob Ley, was an
     "unacceptable" interviewer, and ESPN "would have to assign
     someone else."  Last year, Ley hosted ESPN's "Outside the
     Lines" which profiled Nike's "much-criticized" treatment of
     Nike factory employees in Vietnam.  During the special, he
     reported that Nike "tried to control what he saw and whom he
     spoke with."  ESPN insisted that Ley do the interview and
     told Nike "to take a hike" (N.Y. POST, 1/15).