Michael Jordan Sits Down With ESPN for a Rare Interview
Charlotte Hornets owner and pro-basketball hall of famer Michael Jordan sat down with ESPN’s Darren Rovell Monday to discuss a variety of topics within the Hornets organization.
Jordan, who has often been criticized for being a bad owner, discussed all of the difficulties and challenges of being an owner versus being a player, and how it’s difficult to not be able to impact the game the way he would want to.
Jordan also went into detail on how he recruited former Indiana Pacers shooting guard Lance Stephenson, and why he felt that he needed Lance to be competitive in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.
Also in the interview with Rovell, Jordan discusses what it would mean to win his first NBA championship as an owner, and his seventh NBA championship overall.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV4QLok3Dv0
Jordan, who has owned the Hornets (formerly the Bobcats) since 2009, is known for his ferocious competitiveness. Since his acquisition of the Charlotte franchise, the now Hornets have been the laughing stock of the NBA, losing 59 of their 66 games in the strike-shortened 2011-2012 NBA season.
Before last season it was rumored that Jordan, who was then 50 going on 51, would make his return to the NBA and play one game as a member of the Charlotte Bobcats.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7HOkr7kx9o
The Hornets made the playoffs last season for the second time in Jordan’s tenure as the owner, and lost in the first round to the eventual eastern conference champions the Miami Heat.
One of the main criticisms of Jordan as an owner is that he has far too many “yes men” surrounding him, therefore Jordan has not able to make the right personnel moves to make the Hornets a contender.
Things can change, and the perception of Jordan as an owner around the league has done just that.
As mentioned before Jordan recruited and signed free-agent Lance Stephenson this past summer, adding him to an already explosive Hornets lineup that includes Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson.
Jordan has put together a team that certainly has a lot of promise, and a team that was one of the best defensive teams in the entire league last season, ranking fourth in the NBA in average points allowed (97.1).
Back in 2001 when Jordan was the owner of the Washington Wizards he made history by selecting Kwame Brown with the number one pick in the NBA draft, making Brown the first ever high school player to be selected first overall. The pick did not work out as Brown was a major bust.
Jordan picked Brown over players like Tyson Chandler, Pau Gasol, Shane Battier and Joe Johnson.
Since that day in 2001 when Jordan picked Kwame Brown with the number one overall pick he’s been trying to shed his reputation as a bad owner, and with the Hornets team that he has put together he may have done just that.
[Image via Sam Sharpe/USA Today Sports, videos via ESPN and Grantland]
