Life is tough for us Charlotte sports fans.
The Panthers are struggling to put together a winning season after two heartbreaking Super Bowl losses, and the Hornets have been ripped from us and replaced by the most unrelated franchise in the NBA, the Bobcats. , but baseball still won’t get the Rays. That’s why Michael Jordan’s promise to buy the Charlotte Hornets, one of the greatest basketball players of all time and one of America’s greatest athletes, was so hopeful.
BREAKING: Michael Jordan Officially Selling Charlotte Hornets Reportedly @wojespn.
MJ bought the team for $180 million in 2010, and the franchise is now worth $1.77 billion.
He was the only black owner of the NBA. pic.twitter.com/5K57hEw3Ca
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) June 16, 2023
Jordan bought a minority stake in what was then the Bobcats in 2006 and took over the organization’s basketball operations. He became the majority owner in March 2010.
This was a historic event. Jordan is the first ex-player to own a franchise in the NBA and the first black owner in an all-black league. Charlotte fans believed that Jordan’s basketball experience, iconic brand, and influence in the sports world would take the franchise from slump to plausibility for the first time in decades.
What actually happened is not.
We often hear that famous players don’t often make great coaches, and that many of the best coaches have lackluster careers. However, there has never been a trial with the owner. And, as it turns out, Michael Jordan didn’t have the qualities of a good owner.
Good ownership in sports (often called the greatest competitive advantage a franchise can have) boils down to three things: willingness to spend, good hiring, and no interference.
Michael Jordan was 0/3.
The spending wasn’t entirely MJ’s fault. Obviously, anyone who can afford a major professional sports franchise is wealthy, but as philosopher Meek Mill once boasted of dignity, there are “levels” to this. Jordan was rich, Only the 21st richest 30 owners of the NBA. He just didn’t have the resources to dive deep into luxury taxes or invest heavily in new properties like other owners.
God only knows how many of the biggest contracts were lost to male demons in casinos.
On the hiring front, Jordan didn’t fare well either. He hired Mike Dunlap for his first head coaching job since he was with the Metro State Roadrunners (which turns out to be a Division 2 team in Colorado). His only professional head coaching experience to date was with the Adelaide 36ers of Australia’s National Basketball League.
And last year, he committed the most serious sin of coach hiring, hiring a retread head coach with a mediocre track record. The best part about this hiring, Steve Clifford, is that he wasn’t just re-evaluated, He was a replica of Michael Jordan’s Hornets. During his eight years with the Hornets from 2013 to 2021, Clifford had an astounding record of one playoff appearance and a total of three playoff victories. For those who don’t know, he needs four wins to win his series in the NBA playoffs. This means Clifford has never made it past the first round.
After retiring James Borrego, Jordan decided to give Clifford another try this year. Whatever he’s learned in his three years with the Orlando Magic, making the playoffs twice and winning a whopping two games, it didn’t seem to change him as a coach. The Hornets are 27-55 this season. I don’t make enough money to keep drinking 55 losses at the Daily Caller.
Finally, there is interference. Oh nosy! There should be writing on the wall here. Jordan’s most iconic front office decision was to select Kwame Brown as the first No. 1 overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft when he was a basketball option for the Washington Wizards. Luckily, no other talented big man was picked on the heels of the biggest draft debacle of the 21st century like Tyson Chandler or Paul Gasol.
Still, we thought, this time might be different. Michael Jordan learned from his first assignment in the front office and any big free agent would want to play for him!
Sweet summer children. Jordan took Kemba Walker, arguably the greatest player in franchise history, to the Hornets with the first pick. But it was all downhill from there. (Related: Sneakers worn by Michael Jordan sell for record $2.2 million at auction)
Other Hornets first-round picks during Jordan’s tenure include: Michael Kidd-Gilcrest, Cody Zeller, Noah Bonley, Frank Kaminski, Malik Monk, PJ Washington, LaMelo Ball, James Borknight, Jalen Durren, Mark Williams. Even if you count generously, you’ll end up with 4 busts, 2 useful players, 1 star, and 3 undetermined.
Since acquiring Kemba Walker, the Hornets have drafted as many future All-Stars (one, Ball) as they have drafted or traded (one, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander).
In the words of Nick Adams, Michael Jordan doesn’t know the ball. He didn’t have the money to spend on developing candidates, and other than reclaiming the Hornets’ brand and getting Charlotte out of the Bobcats, he did nothing but misery and pain for Charlotte’s basketball fans. . Even after selling the team, he continues to do so. Typing in the name Frank Kaminski makes him want to take a nap in front of an oncoming subway train.
For the love of God, the pinnacle of my basketball fandom may have been getting a Big Al Jefferson paint bucket in a year when the Hornets won 48 games and lost in the first round.
MJ is the greatest basketball player ever. He is the ultimate competitor and a champion unlike any other. But good banishment from this Charlotte basketball fan!
