[REAL GM] Stern: Bobcats To Be Sold Within 60 Days

[Kai]

http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/64693/20100214/stern_bobcats_to_be_sold_within_60_days/

NBA commissioner David Stern expects the Bobcats to be sold within the next two months.

At his midseason news conference Saturday night, Stern seemed certain that Charlotte owner Bob Johnson will unload the franchise soon.

Michael Jordan, a minority investor in the team, has run the Bobcats' basketball operations since 2006 and has the right of first refusal on any sale.

"I like the increased level of Michael's involvement and if Michael were to be a buyer that would be a good thing," Stern said.

Jordan has said that he'd be interested in buying the club outright from Johnson, and Stern said a decision on a sale is imminent.

"I think that might happen sooner rather than later," Stern said, "within the next 60 days or so."

[MiamiHeat]

hm, that's awesome

hopefully he changes the name though

bobcats is gay.

[Thompson]

hm, that's awesome

hopefully he changes the name though

bobcats is gay.

Charlotte Goats?

[ffadicted]

Charlotte Hornets sounds nice

[j.dizzle]

Jordan is motha fuckin ballllllin..He can live like a king for the rest of his life just off his shoe brand

[ElNono]

In related news, Stern also announced that if Jordan is buying the Bobcats, Kobe would be buying the Thunder...

[lil_penny]

Charlotte air jordans

[noob cake]

Charlotte air jordans

Charlotte Air-J's

[AussieFanKurt]

In related news, Stern also announced that if Jordan is buying the Bobcats, Kobe would be buying the Thunder...

:lol:lol

[BRHornet45]

sons lol

the only team in the NBA being run by brothas is going down the toilet. SHOCKED!

[Pelicans78]

Charlotte Hornets sounds nice

I agree. Just like the New Orleans Jazz. Plus I like the mardi gras color, purple, green, and gold.

Utah Bobcats would be ok too.

[Trainwreck2100]

Awesome, the team that fucked up the nba standings is in financial trouble.

[lefty]

hm, that's awesome

hopefully he changes the name though

bobcats is gay.
"Charlotte Hornets" was just perfect

Fuck relocations :depressed

[duncan228]

Brown: Jordan determined to buy Bobcats (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-bobcats-jordan&prov=ap&type=lgns)
By Mike Cranston

Former basketball great Michael Jordan could soon be the owner of his own NBA team.

Charlotte Bobcats coach Larry Brown said Monday that Jordan is doing everything he can to become the majority owner of the club in his home state.

“He said he’s doing his best to put himself in a position to get the team,” Brown said. “He wants it badly.”

Johnson is eager to sell the unprofitable club, and NBA commissioner David Stern said Saturday he expects a deal to be completed within two months.

While Stern has said Jordan owning the team “would be a good thing,” he may have competition. Former Houston Rockets executive George Postolos has made inquiries, and it’s possible if Postolos gets control, Jordan would no longer have a role with the team.

Jordan, currently a part owner with the final say on basketball decisions, would have to put an ownership group together and agree with Johnson on a price. Jordan declined comment Monday through a team spokesman.

“I didn’t talk to him about the particulars,” Brown said of his conversation with Jordan last week. “He just told me don’t believe everything you read in the paper and I’m trying my hardest to get this thing done. I’m hopeful that at the end of the day Michael will be running the Bobcats.”

Postolos, who once worked as an assistant to Stern in the NBA offices, has been in talks with Johnson for months.

“I am still not talking to media about Charlotte,” Postolos wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press on Monday.

Jordan currently has a unique role in Charlotte. While he runs the basketball operations, he’s not officially a team employee and rarely attends practices or games. But he was able to lure Brown, a fellow Hall of Famer, to coach the Bobcats and Charlotte (26-25) is in position to make its first playoff appearance this season.

“Anytime I read a possibility that Michael is not going to be involved it impacts my family and me because I came here because of him,” said Brown, in his record ninth NBA head coaching job. “Now after I got here I realized there were a lot of real plusses for being here. But again, I wouldn’t have thought about it and I’ve been thrilled since I’ve gotten here with the arrangement.”

Guard Raymond Felton was even more confident that a deal would be struck to make one of North Carolina’s most popular figures owner of the state’s NBA team.

“From what I’ve been hearing it’s probably going to happen,” Felton said. “So I hope it works out and he gets the team.”

Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television and the first black majority owner of a major professional sports team, also wasn’t talking Monday. He has declined interview requests for months.

What’s clear is Johnson is looking to unload the Bobcats. After paying $300 million for the expansion franchise that began play in 2004-05, Johnson has lost tens of millions of dollars each season as the Bobcats have struggled to draw fans and find sponsorships.

But after five losing seasons, the Bobcats sit in sixth place ahead of Tuesday’s game against New Jersey.

Jordan bought into the team in 2006 and after a rocky beginning that included drafting the disappointing Adam Morrison, he’s made several moves that have helped the team, including November’s acquisition of Stephen Jackson from Golden State.

Owning a team outright would be another milestone for the six-time NBA champion.

“He’s as good a player as we’ve ever had in this sport. He’s a wonderful guy,” Brown said. “I think when the NBA bounced back, Magic (Johnson) and Larry (Bird) and then Michael sustained it. A lot of people owe a lot to him. I don’t think David Stern takes that lightly. I think he admires Michael and realizes what he means to our sport.

“I just think we’ve got to have him involved. … I just can’t see the NBA without him being involved.”

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

That's it for the Bobcats then. Jordan, GOAT on the court that he is, is not a good manager. He'll fuck it up for sure.