Jordan, a sloppy CO-OWNER???

[h1]On the market or not, Bobcats need fixing[/h1]

For weeks, NBA ownership and front office sources insisted that it was just a matter of time until Charlotte Bobcats owner Bob Johnson made official what had been privately held:He was selling his failing franchise.

"He's been quietly feeling the market out for buyers," one league executive said.

Yet, the economy crashed, a recovery appears a long way off, and finally Johnson told the Associated Press on Monday, "I'm not selling theteam."

In these tumultuous times, Johnson probably felt he didn't have a choice. This isn't the economic climate to get maximum return on your investment.He's lost tens of millions of dollars with the Bobcats, and truth be told, little suggests that'll subside soon.

With so much mismanagement and miscalculation under Johnson, Charlotte's return to the NBA has thus far been a disaster. In the past several weeks,he's cleared some 40 employees out of his marketing and business departments, leaving little infrastructure beyond his suspect basketball operations.

So far, Johnson, pro sports' first African-American majority owner, has done little to validate the enthusiasm that met his $300 million purchase of theexpansion Bobcats in 2003. He's the self-made man who built the Black Entertainment Television empire that made him $3 billion in a sale to Viacom. Twoyears ago, he turned his basketball decisions over to an absentee partial owner, Michael Jordan, who appears to be following the same sloppy script that doomedhim with the Washington Wizards.

Several Bobcats employees are so skeptical of Jordan's priorities, a source says there's a running joke that the greatest player ever had somethingto do with the league office scheduling the Bobcats in the Super Bowl cities of Miami and Phoenix the day after the 2007 and 2008 games. No one is ever surewhen and where they'll find Jordan around the team - never mind scouting the colleges or overseas - but they know Jordan never misses that Super Bowl weekparty.

"He's going to be more involved, I think, this year than he has been in the past because he's got the coach here that he wants," Johnsonsaid in the interview with AP.

Jordan needed Larry Brown, and Brown needed Jordan. One was an absentee executive, and the other, an obstinate, self-destructive coach. After a winlesspreseason, Brown has already undertaken his usual routine of privately disparaging the roster and demanding upheaval.

"Like always with Larry, he hates the players he has and covets ones he doesn't and then once he acquires them, hates them equally," said onelongtime league official.

For someone to suggest that Brown hasn't gotten his way already, though, would be erroneous. On draft night in June, sources said, Jordan and generalmanager Rod Higgins had decided to take Stanford 7-footer Brook Lopezwith the ninth pick. There was even a call made out of the Charlotte war room to send word to Lopez's representatives that commissioner David Stern wouldsoon be calling his name at Madison Square Garden.

Despite the fact that Texas point guard .J. Augustin never workedout for the Bobcats, Brown still wanted to pick him. He was down on Raymond Felton, the ex-Tar Heel guard, and used the final moments until thepick was due to lobby his bosses for Augustin.

So, Augustin turned out to be the choice, and Lopez would go 10th to the New Jersey Nets. If Brown hated having Isiah Thomas as his talent evaluator withthe Knicks, he's sure to loathe MJ. Jordan is responsible for drafting Kwame Brown with the No. 1 pick, Adam Morrison with No. 3 and trading Richard Hamilton for a Carolina crony, Jerry Stackhouse.

"[Jordan] recognizes that he now has had two years of putting the Michael Jordan stamp on the team," Johnson told the AP. "So it's sortof his team that he has to now prove can do what he expects it to do. He's very much focused on his basketball obligations here in Charlotte."

It's never good when the owner feels the need to convince people that the executive running his franchise is serious about the job. You'd kind ofwant to assume that. Welcome to the Bobcats' dysfunctional world.

The way Johnson has run the Bobcats, there's as much uncertainty about his commitment to the product. "He thought it was enough to just plop downhis $300 million for the expansion fee, and he never realized the kind of resources beyond that it took to be a viable NBA franchise," one ex-Bobcatsofficial said. "He didn't understand the market place, that Charlotte is really a small town where people want to believe you're a part of thefabric of the place. He's miscalculated a lot of things."

Just a week ago, Johnson had an embarrassing interview on CNBC, where he sounded far too flippant about his franchise - even disconnected. He called hisformer No. 1 pick, Sean May by his father's name,"Scott," called the basketball court a "field," and only half-jokingly mocked Jordan, saying, "I gave Michael Jordan a blank check andhe exceeded it."

Before the segment was over, the host asked his advice to wealthy investors in America. He sure didn't sound like someone who wanted to keep hisbasketball team. "Here's what you do: You buy beachfront assets like the NBA. There's only 30 NBA teams. Buy an NBA team."

Whatever Bob Johnson is saying now, there are still plenty of people in the NBA who believe it'll be his failing franchise on the market.
 
Good read!! But the Bobcats will have a chance to win a championship, every team does!!! I have faith in the Bobcats under the co-owner Jordan and under newhead coach Larry Brown!!!!!
 
Interesting, I agree with the article, Larry Brown is definitely the last thing the Bobcats need right now, but only time can tell...who knows M.J. might makeall the right moves as he did as a player and we will see the Bobcats in the playoffs as solid contenders...again, only time can tell...
 
its ok if he loses a few millions, the guy is a billionaire
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wrong forum for this post i think, and will be locked, but after reading that...it seemed all eerily similar to the account of Michael Leahy in his book WhenNothing Else Matters: Michael Jordan's Last Comeack. It seemed to show him in that "half foot in half foot out" manner where not much attentionand priority was given to his team as expressed by some other executives and also by Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin.
Bob Johnson however, as you can see is standing up for Jordan and defendng him and ensuring that MJ's doing the best that he can, and I guess thats allthat could be asked f him.

Truth be told some of MJ's bball decisions as an execuive have been rather questionnable, but I think the situation in Charlotte has been more of acoaching mishap more than just executive...the decision to pass up on Brook Lopez to me was the biggest mistake of this year as Sean May has proven to be waferthin in durabiliy (not knockin his skill or heart, but his ability to stay healthy) and Okafor being the only true big along with Nazr Mohammed, who should begetting more playing time- (showed to be a very good role player in his days with Spurs).

The wear and tear on Gerrald Wallace is ridiculous and they needed someone who could hang low and bang with the bigger frontcourts and Lopez was just that. DJAugustin is a nice player, but on a team that already had Raymond Felton who I believe was doing a good job already. i think they just made a choice for theworst as Augustin is not a big impact PG that they think they needed. that just demoralises Felton and doesnt allow him to give the best effort as he'll belike "ok go ahead rook, lets see you take over this team, thats what THEY wanted." The executives should've stood firm and not allowedBrown to make that decision, but I guess they wanted to please their new coach and since he'd be running the show, and valued his input.

Charlotte is heading for another playoff-less year and its bad cuz I did want to see them improve and get way better and see Jordan be prasied rather thanagain criticised about his team's efforts...but anyway, I'm just a dude from da Caribbean, who balls in da UK, what do I know!? haha
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sports and training forum

anyway its obvious mj is not as great a gm/pres/co owner of a team as a basketball player. i never liked the larry brown coaching selection, he seems to leavethe young guys off his rotation and always have someone to blame when the season goes sour. anyway i have nothing against the bobcats but i hope they doimprove from last season's mediocre record. they have the talent and i hope the 0-7 preseason record won't be an indicator of whats going to happenduring the regular season.
 
kwame, adam morrison, dj augistine, comeback with the wizards, jordan has not been making good decisions gm/co owner
 
Originally Posted by dcortes23

Good read!! But the Bobcats will have a chance to win a championship, every team does!!! I have faith in the Bobcats under the co-owner Jordan and under new head coach Larry Brown!!!!!
Click to expand...
the sonics has a better chance of winning a championship.
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So...umm.....this article is implying that MJ is half-assing it with the Bobcats....being here on NT...what "other" MJ led brand has shownEXACTLY THE SAME TREND????....hmmm....what forum is this?....Oh, right....we are all happy with the quality anddecisions from his other brand too....we are sheep...we are sheep... we are sheep.....(Bart Simpson chalkboard style)......
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Originally Posted by Ivehademall

So...umm.....this article is implying that MJ is half-assing it with the Bobcats....being here on NT...what "other" MJ led brand has shown EXACTLY THE SAME TREND????....hmmm....what forum is this?....Oh, right....we are all happy with the quality and decisions from his other brand too....we are sheep...we are sheep... we are sheep.....(Bart Simpson chalkboard style)......
ohwell.gif
Click to expand...
Isn't that the truth
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That franchise is a MESS all around. As far as Jordan goes...he did some KEY things while he was in Washington but Kwame Brown will always be a black mark onhis resume. I was NEVER too critical of that move. It was a lose-lose situation for him. The main candidates for the #1 pick besides Kwame were Tyson Chandler,Eddy Curry, and Pau Gasol. Tyson and Eddy while proving to be legit starters...have not lived up to their billing either...they just have sucked like Kwamehas. And we all know damn well MJ would have been crucified in the media for taking a European unknown with the first pick. That was just a weak draft ingeneral. He was going to taken an L regardless of who he chose.
 
Originally Posted by lnMyMind

That franchise is a MESS all around. As far as Jordan goes...he did some KEY things while he was in Washington but Kwame Brown will always be a black mark on his resume. I was NEVER too critical of that move. It was a lose-lose situation for him. The main candidates for the #1 pick besides Kwame were Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry, and Pau Gasol. Tyson and Eddy while proving to be legit starters...have not lived up to their billing either...they just have sucked like Kwame has. And we all know damn well MJ would have been crucified in the media for taking a European unknown with the first pick. That was just a weak draft in general. He was going to taken an L regardless of who he chose.
Click to expand...
to think he turned down an offer for elton brand (or stephon marbury
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)for that #1 pick.
 
Jordan is garbage as an executive. The End. He has his nose in too many things at once to be a sucessful nba executive. ie, golf, gambling, his own clothingbrand ( which is also becoming a joke)
 
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