Michael Jordan was one of the fiercest competitors we’ve seen in NBA history, as he showed that season after season with the Chicago Bulls and later with the Washington Wizards. MJ has tried to translate that competitiveness to his new ventures, especially to his role as the Charlotte Hornets owner.
MJ became the majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets) in March 2010 when he bought out Bob Johnson for a reported $175 million, trying to lead that team to the promised land, just like he did during his active days with the Bulls. Well, Michael hasn’t the same level of success with the Hornets and he’s reportedly ‘frustrated’ with the team that changed its history in the last 10 years, the Golden State Warriors.
The Dubs have made it to five straight NBA finals, developing a huge talent in Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, as well as signing big free agents like Kevin Durant. That is something MJ would like to achieve with his team, but he’s been unable to do so so far.
J.A. Adande, who covered Jordan when he played for the Chicago Bulls, said on NBA Sports’ “The Habershow” how His Airness feels about how things have gone with his team, the complete opposite to Joe Lacob and his Warriors:
“He’s lucky he got in before the Clippers reset the market and now everything is $2 billion and up. He wouldn’t have been able to get it. He just doesn’t have that type of money and couldn’t get a significant role.
“I’m sure he could partner with the people that have that money but he wouldn’t get a role to his satisfaction. And I don’t think that would be a desirable scenario for him — to get such a silent voice. And I think he’d be very conscious of people just using his name.
“That kind of happened with Magic (Johnson), and Magic was more than willing to do so with the ownership group that bought the Dodgers. Magic’s actual stake is very small, but they were more than willing to let him be the frontman, and go out and do all the press conferences and this and that.
“I don’t think Michael Jordan would want to be the frontman and the face of the franchise if he didn’t have real significant ownership stake.
“He can’t compete with the Warriors and the Joe Lacob’s and the Peter Guber’s and all these tech guys that are coming in. He can’t compete in that realm. Financially — as successful as he’s been — this is a whole different level that these tech guys and these venture capital guys are playing at.
“And it frustrates him to no end that he can’t play at their level, when his whole life he’s used to playing at levels higher than everybody else. He can’t beat them in this realm.”
Ever since he took over the franchise, the Hornets have made the playoffs only twice, and they haven’t won a single series yet. Jordan has made some questionable decisions during his time at the helm of the team, which has affected their attempts to be successful.
The Warriors knew very well how to pick players and create the best team around their stars. That hasn’t been the case in Charlotte, as Jordan continues to struggle to assemble a competitive team, even in the ‘weakest’ conference of the NBA.
