Column: Marcus Jordan – More than just a story?

By Danny Aiello

Since when are kids not allowed to be kids?

Since when does a famous last name set the standards by which you live?

By now media outlets around U. Central Florida — and even ESPN — are reporting about Marcus Jordan’s wild tweets about his weekend in Vegas. If you’re expecting this to be a “Marcus how could you?” piece, you might as well turn the page.

So here are the details.

Marcus, along with brother Jeffery and fellow Knight A.J. Rompza, went to Vegas to attend his father’s basketball camp and had a bit of fun in Vegas while they were at it.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but school wasn’t in session last weekend, therefore the guys can enjoy their summer however they please.

And honestly: who cares?

Last I checked, Marcus is 20. He is a kid who happens to have a father who made a lot of money.

Let’s put this into perspective: Marcus dropping $56,000 in Vegas is the equivalent to our parents giving us $20 to go to the movies.

Why harass the kid?

Oh, because his last name is Jordan. Because his dad was the greatest basketball player ever, he now has a higher standard, right?

WRONG.

It’s time the media leaves him alone.

Marcus is harassed everywhere he goes with questions about his dad, his life, and his money. I feel bad for him.

How would you like it if everywhere you went, everyone forgot you were a person and decided to treat you as a human interest story.

He finally allows us into his life. He tweets to show us what he is doing and show us that he is human.

He does go out with friends and do normal kid things.

Sure we all can’t drop that kind of dough, but if we had it we would.

If I spent $56,000 in Vegas yesterday, I wouldn’t even make the headlines on my friends Facebook News Feed, but since he is “MARCUS JORDAN,” we hang on every word he says … or tweets.

Absurd.

We as the media are lucky that celebrities let us into their lives. This kid opens the door to us and we blow it out of proportion.

Here is the tweet:

“Last night was stupid, 35k at Haze… Totals 50k something the whole day.. Damn!! Going to the pool again today.. Gotta relax.”

It doesn’t say who spent the money. It doesn’t say what it is on. Jeffrey, who is 21-years-old, could have spent it.

Marcus could have just purchased a Rolex for all we know. Why do we assume he was out wildly clubbing in Vegas?

Because we want drama. All Marcus is to ESPN is a story. The more clicks the better; the more controversy the better the ratings.

He was back at school on Monday, so he didn’t miss practice or school. I don’t see what the big deal is.

Could I be naive?

Possibly.

All I know is the kid went away with his brother, father and best friend to Vegas for the weekend. Vegas is expensive, and Marcus has money to blow.

Did he commit a crime? Did he jeopardize the school or his basketball season?

No.

He could have avoided tweeting that, but we want to see into his life. We want to see that he is human. All we are doing by making this national headlines is making him not want to talk to us and go into seclusion.

Then when he puts up the ‘walls of seclusion,’ if you will, we will bash him again for ‘hiding things.’

Is this all we have come to as the media?

Hawking and being vultures over a 20-year-old kid because of his last name?

Not this reporter.

If I had his money, I’d probably spend it the same way and tell everyone who didn’t like it to buzz off. He didn’t hurt himself or anyone, he didn’t do anything illegal to get himself or the school in trouble, so why all the fuss.

Marcus: Big props for tweeting what you did and what you spent. Who cares? It’s your money (well, technically your dad’s) and if you have it, spend it.

You are a human, and the media may tend to forget that and just look at you as a headline.

It’s your life. Do what you please. As long as you continue to work hard and perform on the court, I couldn’t care if you dropped 100,000 bucks at Marketplace.

Read more here: http://www.centralfloridafuture.com/marcus-jordan-more-than-just-a-story-1.2308649
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