NBA: Supermarket chain must pay Michael Jordan $8.9 mn

NBA legend Michael Jordan was awarded $8.9 million by a Chicago jury on Friday in a case against a supermarket chain which included his name in a promotion without his permission.

"I`m pleased with today`s verdict," Jordan said in a statement. "No one -- whether or not they`re a public figure -- should have to worry about their identity being used without their permission."

Dominick`s in 2009 used Jordan`s name in a commemorative ad in Sports Illustrated when the former Chicago Bulls superstar was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Lawyers for the now-closed grocery store chain -- which was taken over by Safeway -- had said Jordan should receive $126,900 for the unauthorized use of his name.

Jordan argued that he wouldn`t have accepted such a deal based on his endorsement history and his legal team determined with the help of a sports economist that using his name in the ad was worth $10 million.