Jordan to Become Bobcats Owner

MikeDC · Feb 27, 2010

Via Yahoo

With minutes to go until his exclusive negotiating window was to expire, Jordan struck a deal late Friday night to buy controlling interest of the Charlotte Bobcats, putting the six-time NBA champion in charge of the money-losing team in his home state.

Owner Bob Johnson announced in a statement that he’s agreed to sell the Bobcats to Jordan, who been a part-owner of since 2006. Jordan has been running the team’s basketball operations.

The purchase price and details of Jordan’s ownership group—called MJ Basketball Holdings LLC—weren’t immediately available. A spokeswoman for Johnson and a spokesman for Jordan said neither man was available for comment early Saturday.

The league’s owners must still approve the purchase.

Jordan was in competition with former Houston Rockets executive George Postolos, who also had an ownership group together to buy the team. But Postolos said Jordan had the exclusive right to buy the club until just before midnight Friday night.

Jordan hit another last-second shot—reaching a deal minutes before the deadline.
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Denny Crane · Feb 27, 2010

This was an ongoing story for the past few months. Apparently Jordan needed to put together an "ownership group" to get the deal done.

Here's hoping he's a better owner than GM ;-)

thedude9990 · Feb 27, 2010

do the bobcats have cap space for this summer? can jordan attract a big name, he did get larry brown to coach a team thats never made the playoffs.

Shapecity · Mar 4, 2010

When Bob Johnson purchased the Bobcats seven years ago, he paid the expansion price of $300 million.

The price Michael Jordan is buying the team for? According to Michael K. Ozanian of Forbes, its $175 million, the valuation of the franchise right now - something he deems "embarrassing" for the league.

"Usually, when a team is sold related stories include estimated prices, frequently leaked by the NBA or someone involved with the transaction," he writes. "I searched Google but could not find one story that mentioned the price. The NBA is embarrassed about the $175 million valuation. And rightfully so."

¹²³ · Mar 16, 2010

Tyson Chandler: Michael Jordan, owner, is sharing wisdom

¹²³ · Mar 22, 2010

Jordan letter to Charlotte a good start

Michael Jordan’s open letter to city of Charlotte in Sunday’s Charlotte Observer was a testament to accountability. I don’t know who wrote it, but because Jordan’s name is at the bottom, I’ll credit him.

I can tell you who didn’t write it – Bob Johnson.

Johnson, who sold the Charlotte Bobcats to Jordan, made some typically absurd comments Saturday after accepting an award from the Urban Leadership Institute. The comments were typically absurd because they revolve around a central theme. The theme is that Charlotte again failed him.

“Charlotte is a very, how would I call it, close-knit, arrogant, sometimes incestuous town,” Johnson said.

He added: “If you come to this town, and you look like you’re one of those people that might break some glass ... it’s going to be tough for them to relate to.”

Johnson was tough to relate to. He expected our accolades and our dollars simply because he was here.

Johnson is the worst owner of any team, major league, minor league or fantasy, the city has ever had. How much money and time did he give to charity? How many hands did he shake? How many of his own games did he attend?

If Johnson wanted us to support him, he was obligated to support us. Every city has a way of doing business, and he was never curious enough to learn ours.

Or did he think changing his name from Robert to Bob was sufficient?

Do you remember the comments Johnson made in a meeting with the Observer not quite two years ago? He criticized the business community for a lack of support.

I wrote a column that advocated the obvious. “Hey, Bob, thanks for coming. Now go.”

At that time, Johnson’s team was bad and boring. They’re pretty good now, and Johnson gets credit.

But what else did he accomplish?

When Johnson talked to the Urban Leadership Institute about breaking glass, and said, “it’s going to be tough for them to relate to,” was he implying there was a racial component to his failure?

Of course there are people who refused to support him because he’s black.

Most of us wanted to support Johnson. But his legacy of greedy, ego-driven mistakes pushed us away. We weren’t obligated to back his team. He was obligated to at least pretend that the team also was ours.

Read this paragraph from Jordan’s open letter:

“Owning this team is my number one priority. Earning your trust is my first step. I don’t expect anyone to blindly support this franchise, and I don’t want anyone to do it just because I’m the owner. It’s our responsibility to earn our way in this community, and my staff and I will do that by putting a winning team on the floor, making the experience at a Bobcats game memorable, and being active in this community. I’ll be bringing plenty of ideas and resources to the table, but I’m also here to listen. Your feedback is important to me because at the end of the day, this is your team too.”

If Johnson had written the letter, it would have gone like this:

“I’m your number one priority. Earning my trust is your first step. Support this franchise because I’m the owner. It’s your responsibility to make my experience memorable. Bring me a table. I don’t care what kind as long as it is hand-crafted by master artisans. At the end of the day, I’m out of here.”

And he is.
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