Shame.Opinion: Michael Jordan’s Victory In Hornets Sale Is Black America’s Loss
One of the greatest basketball players of all time turned out to be one of the worst NBA team owners, and his failures as a boss will impact Black ownership in the future.
“Sports franchises are how we knight people in this country.” – Bobby Axelrod, on Showtime’s hit show, “Billions.”
Michael Jordan’s decision to sell the Charlotte Hornets isn’t just ending his unsuccessful 13-year run owning and leading one of the NBA’s worst, most depressing teams. It also marks the end of a Black American holding the majority ownership of a professional sports franchise in North America.
Including Major League Soccer — there are 151 professional sports teams across the five major sports in North America. However, only five are owned by people of color, a list that includes: Vivek Ranadive (Sacramento Kings), Marc Lasry (Milwaukee Bucks), Kim Pegula (Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres), Arte Moreno (Los Angeles Angels) and Shahid Khan (Jacksonville Jaguars).
In pure basketball terms, Jordan was an abject failure as the Charlotte Hornets owner. After acquiring the team in 2010, Jordan’s consistently inept decision-making led to a 423-600 win-loss record overall (which ranks 26th out of 30 teams in that time frame,) zero playoff series wins and no trips to the postseason in the last seven years.
But in pure capitalistic terms, Jordan executed a slam dunk in selling the team at a time when sports franchise valuations were exploding....
(long, detailed trashing of all the major sports)
SPORTS!!!
- Vrede too
- Superstar Cultmaster
- Posts: 53467
- Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2015 11:46 am
- Location: Hendersonville, NC
Re: SPORTS!!!
- GoCubsGo
- Admiral
- Posts: 19083
- Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2012 2:22 am
Re: SPORTS!!!
As Elon Musk has proven, genius in one thing doesn't translate to everything. Jordan also failed as GM of the Wizards.
Eamus Catuli~AC 000000 000101 010202 020303 010304 020405....Ahhhh, forget it, it's gonna be a while.
- O Really
- Admiral
- Posts: 22089
- Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2012 3:37 pm
Re: SPORTS!!!
Question for the article author: It's not easy to be a pro sports owner, the list of failures extends way past MJ, with the name "Snyder" popping to recent mind. And most of those were white. What difference does it make that MJ is Black?
- Vrede too
- Superstar Cultmaster
- Posts: 53467
- Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2015 11:46 am
- Location: Hendersonville, NC
Re: SPORTS!!!
I took the article a different way. IMO it's not saying that MJ failed because he's Black. Rather, it's lamenting that because he failed professional sports now has zero Blacks holding majority ownership of a team. Then, the article adds to that stats on the lack of Blacks in other sports leadership positions.
- O Really
- Admiral
- Posts: 22089
- Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2012 3:37 pm
Re: SPORTS!!!
I don't know why we would care if there are no Black owners until or unless somebody comes up with credible instances where Black guys have had the money to buy a team, tried to buy a team, but was denied without plausible cause. Coaches would be a different issue, but owners? Naaa.
- billy.pilgrim
- Admiral
- Posts: 15632
- Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2012 1:44 pm
Re: SPORTS!!!
Black owners wouldn't have the ear of the white republican politicians required to steer sales tax monies, paid out by people who will never be able to afford to attend games, to build these billion dollar stadiums for other rich white guys.O Really wrote: ↑Sat Jul 29, 2023 1:32 pmI don't know why we would care if there are no Black owners until or unless somebody comes up with credible instances where Black guys have had the money to buy a team, tried to buy a team, but was denied without plausible cause. Coaches would be a different issue, but owners? Naaa.
Trump: “We had the safest border in the history of our country - or at least recorded history. I guess maybe a thousand years ago it was even better.”
- O Really
- Admiral
- Posts: 22089
- Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2012 3:37 pm
Re: SPORTS!!!
Well I don't know how much money it takes to be able to buy a pro team, but part of the problem might be illustrated by noting that there are only 8 American black billionaires and 16 total in the world.
- Vrede too
- Superstar Cultmaster
- Posts: 53467
- Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2015 11:46 am
- Location: Hendersonville, NC
Re: SPORTS!!!
Opps, I messed up the link to the OpEd above. Here:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/michael- ... f8ebc7ddb2
Dayyum, risking $30 million in order to make around $3 billion 13 years later is a hella coup. 10,000% return.... But in pure capitalistic terms, Jordan executed a slam dunk in selling the team at a time when sports franchise valuations were exploding. Back in 2010, when Jordan bought the Hornets, the sticker price was $275 million. In a transaction heavily influenced by the late David Stern, former NBA commissioner, Jordan only put up $30 million in cash for the transaction while assuming about $150 million in debt for a team hemorrhaging cash at the time.
Such a deal would never happen in today’s NBA.
Although the official sale price in Jordan’s deal to sell the Hornets hasn’t been announced, ESPN, citing sources familiar with the matter, said the franchise had been valued at $3 billion. (Forbes noted last fall in its annual ranking of NBA team valuations that the average NBA team is now worth $2.86 billion, up 15% from the prior year.)
I don't think the author is asserting that there is a de facto "poll tax" for ownership, but rather is lamenting the result however we got here. Far be it for me to wish for more billionaires, but we can certainly say that racism is a factor in our not having more Black ones.If we’re reducing the matter of Jordan selling the Hornets to a simple issue of dollars and cents, there’s no question that Jordan has once again demonstrated himself to be as lethal from a business standpoint as he ever was on a basketball court. And he certainly cannot be begrudged for cashing in a smart investment at the right time. This is the object of the game in our capitalistic society, right? Buy low and sell high.
But Jordan selling off the Hornets — which we can reasonably assume the fans are justifiably thrilled about — again places the spotlight on an uncomfortable truth for the NBA.
Although Black players account for more than 70% of the talent on NBA rosters, with Jordan’s sale of the Hornets, no more Black majority owners are left to call the shots for teams. In fairness, the NBA has made significant progress in hiring Black talent into prominent leadership roles in recent years, with 14 of the 30 head coaches and 11 of 30 general managers identifying as Black. The gap in the Black leadership-to-player talent ratio is far starker in the National Football League, where although 56% of the players are Black, there are no Black owners, just three Black head coaches and five Black team presidents.
In fact, a report published by Revelio Labs earlier this year contends that the NFL “has a significant disparity between the diversity of its players and that of its coaching staff — the largest among men’s major leagues — and this has not changed despite a large pool of diverse former players that could meet a demand for coaching talent.”
These data points illustrate a power dynamic in which Black sweat is a crucial part of the engine driving multibillion-dollar profits for sports leagues and media networks, while the decision-making largely rests in the hands of a predominantly white leadership structure that includes ownership and extends into the press, the TV network C-suite, player agents, sports advertisers, corporate sponsors and season ticket holders.
Magic Johnson, who recently joined the ranks of Black minority owners of NFL franchises as part of billionaire Josh Harris’ $6.5 billion purchase of the Washington Commanders, seems to want to be part of the solution to this challenge for the NFL. Following the closing of Dan Snyder’s sale, Johnson told NBC BLK that he hopes his position with the club will lead to more Black executives elevating into leadership positions both within the organization and beyond....
To cite one well known example, Dolt .45, if he even is a billionaire, is wealthy thanks to his racist White landlord daddy, not because of his own talent.
- O Really
- Admiral
- Posts: 22089
- Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2012 3:37 pm
Re: SPORTS!!!
The author reminds me of somebody... hmmm, here it is:
- O Really
- Admiral
- Posts: 22089
- Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2012 3:37 pm
Re: SPORTS!!!
The author does relate to one thing, however, that makes a difference. He says MJ was a horrible owner because he had bad teams managed badly. Sure, from the fans standpoint. But he also says MJ made a financial killing in his ownership. So maybe the real issue shouldn't be whether an owner is Black or White, but whether s/he's primarily interested in a winning team or personal profit.
- Vrede too
- Superstar Cultmaster
- Posts: 53467
- Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2015 11:46 am
- Location: Hendersonville, NC
Re: SPORTS!!!
Okay, but the peasants were more sophisticated and credible than the dude in the fancy tunic with his own coconut-wielding peasant. I found this:O Really wrote: ↑Sat Jul 29, 2023 6:57 pmThe author reminds me of somebody... hmmm, here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2c-X8HiBng
How Accurate is Monty Python's Anarcho-Syndicalist Peasant Scene?
So there.
Power to the people, fuck systemic racism!
MJ probably would have preferred both. It's not like he made an obscene profit because the Hornets sucked year in and year out.O Really wrote: ↑Sat Jul 29, 2023 7:02 pmThe author does relate to one thing, however, that makes a difference. He says MJ was a horrible owner because he had bad teams managed badly. Sure, from the fans standpoint. But he also says MJ made a financial killing in his ownership. So maybe the real issue shouldn't be whether an owner is Black or White, but whether s/he's primarily interested in a winning team or personal profit.
Last edited by Vrede too on Sat Jul 29, 2023 8:07 pm, edited 2 times in total.
- O Really
- Admiral
- Posts: 22089
- Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2012 3:37 pm
Re: SPORTS!!!
Probably not, but would they have been better if more had been spent on players, coaching, or management? Or am I wrong in thinking MJ did a lot of the ummm "management" himself?
- Vrede too
- Superstar Cultmaster
- Posts: 53467
- Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2015 11:46 am
- Location: Hendersonville, NC
Re: SPORTS!!!
I don't really know. The author thinks that MJ sucked at being an owner. The $150 million team debt in 2010 probably didn't help, either.
Anyhow, leave aside the writer's opinions. His facts are distressing enough to be worth a column.
- O Really
- Admiral
- Posts: 22089
- Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2012 3:37 pm
Re: SPORTS!!!
LeBron could afford a team. So could Oprah, Kanye, Jay-Z and Tyler Perry.
- Vrede too
- Superstar Cultmaster
- Posts: 53467
- Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2015 11:46 am
- Location: Hendersonville, NC
Re: SPORTS!!!
Is Kanye still Black?
Tiger Woods is even wealthier than LeBron.
https://wealthygorilla.com/top-20-riche ... tes-world/
But, your point is valid that there are few enough Black billionaires that we can name them.
- O Really
- Admiral
- Posts: 22089
- Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2012 3:37 pm
Re: SPORTS!!!
I suppose a consortium of wealthy-but-not-billionaire Black people could have a go at it.
- Vrede too
- Superstar Cultmaster
- Posts: 53467
- Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2015 11:46 am
- Location: Hendersonville, NC
Re: SPORTS!!!
The writer's parameter is "a Black American holding the majority ownership of a professional sports franchise in North America," but I suspect he'd be thrilled with a consortium.
- O Really
- Admiral
- Posts: 22089
- Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2012 3:37 pm
Re: SPORTS!!!
Oprah's O's has a good sound to it.
Or maybe Tiger Woods could buy the Detroit baseball team.
Or maybe Tiger Woods could buy the Detroit baseball team.
- Vrede too
- Superstar Cultmaster
- Posts: 53467
- Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2015 11:46 am
- Location: Hendersonville, NC
Re: SPORTS!!!
LeBroncos?
Toronto Blue Jay-Zs?
- O Really
- Admiral
- Posts: 22089
- Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2012 3:37 pm
Re: SPORTS!!!
If they bought the team formerly known as "Redskins" they could call it the "Black-Owned Football Team"
Apparently the article's author doesn't consider NASCAR to be major sports or he would have mentioned the team ownership of MJ as well as Brad Daugherty.
Apparently the article's author doesn't consider NASCAR to be major sports or he would have mentioned the team ownership of MJ as well as Brad Daugherty.