The Michael Jordan Ownership Era: Where Did It All Go Wrong?

From Mike Dunlap to Lance Stephenson and everything in-between

The book on Michael Jordan’s legacy as a majority sports owner is closed.

He tried. He failed. The end.

The complete story of Michael Jordan’s ownership journey is complex and deserved to be heard one. His individual achievements and failures will slowly be lost over time. His reputation as an owner will be reduced to disparaging remarks from spiteful Hornets fans and talking heads on ESPN First Take. Whenever another sporting legend moves into ownership (I see you LeBron), Michael Jordan will be referenced as an example of why he won’t succeed.

The way you define "success" is crucial, and it can be argued that Charlotte wouldn't even have an NBA team if it weren't for Michael Jordan. In 2010, the Charlotte NBA franchise was in a precarious position five years after its return to North Carolina. If you don’t believe me, then explain why Jordan paid $275 million for the team, which was only half the price of the Washington Wizards, who sold in the same year. Jordan was acquired the Hornets at a discount price as the franchise was fundamentally broken and facing enormous challenges. Former Hornets COO Pete Guelli stated the following when the sale was announced in June.

“MJ rescued the NBA in Charlotte. I can’t express how bad it was. Team was on the brink. Brought credibility and stability. He repaired fractured relationships in the market. Turned around the business. Returned the Hornets brand. Invested in the community. Made Spectrum Center a true entertainment destination. Brought in the NBA-All Star Game. Secured a long term-future for the team in Charlotte and so much more”.

If you were to talk to high level long-serving staff members of the Hornets organization, they would express gratitude for the stability and progress the franchise has achieved under Jordan's ownership. However, the challenge for Jordan's reputation as an owner is that only those behind the scenes can truly see and appreciate this progress. For fans watching the games at Spectrum Center or on TV (unless the game is blacked out), all they have witnessed over the past 13 years were disappointing basketball performances and perplexing decisions made by the front office. Is the fact that the Charlotte Hornets still exist enough for fans for Jordan to be viewed as a success? It should be, but in the world of sports it somehow still falls short due to the on-court incompetency fans suffered through. 

Michael Jordan was unveiled as majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats in 2010

The complete story of Jordan's failures in managing the basketball side of the franchise needs to be told, without any character limits or TV producers rushing to the next topic. This is the exhaustive account of errors that occurred during Jordan’s tenure as owner.

Since Michael Jordan became a minority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats in 2007, he developed a reputation for surrounding himself with individuals close to him he could trust. While understandable, this approach also left him open to accusations of nepotism with the organisation. It doesn't take long to browse through franchise's staff directory to find several of Jordan's family members, family of friends, former teammates and business partners in vital positions. Jordan isn't unique in this aspect, there's several professional sports owners who succumb to this same shortcoming. However, that doesn't shield him from criticism from fans or former friends such as Charles Barkley, especially considering the poor on court performance over the last 15 years.

In fairness, Jordan did attempt to hire outside his comfort zone, in 2011 he hired Rich Cho as General Manager. A publicly awkward former engineer and lawyer who specialised in data and brought his revolutionary scouting database. For all the excitement over having an analytics driven front office, the Cho era was the most unsuccessful of the Jordan era and led to the infamous 7-59 season. The experiment failed.

This pattern continued on the court. Charlotte team signing Corey Higgins, who happened to be the general manager's son, to a contract after he went undrafted as a free agent. Additionally, Scoot Jardine, who was dating Michael Jordan's daughter at the time, even received an invitation to the training camp after going undrafted in 2012. However, Jardine sustained an injury during training camp and never seemed close to making it into the NBA again. Despite these flaws, Jordan deserves some praise for the stability he brought to the business side of the franchise, in 2020 FEVO awarded Charlotte the "Front Office Sports Best Employer in Sports Award". However, it's fair to say not all staff share this point of view, one source within the organisation states in recent years the Hornets staff turnover is high, with some departments personnel suddenly changing. There are also issues with poor management from individuals who's positions are secured through their connections to ownership. 

On the court, Jordan has a well chronicled history of poor decisions when it comes to the draft and free agency. Despite the media narrative it's unclear how much of the blame lies with Jordan himself or his front office staff. However, two things are clear. Firstly, as the owner, Jordan always had the ultimate authority to approve or reject any suggested decision. He had the power to prevent any recommended move from happening. Secondly, Jordan or someone he hired was responsible for hiring the key decision-makers in the organization. Therefore, it is reasonable to hold him largely accountable for these choices. Hornets fans brace yourself, I’m about to re-open some old wounds:

- Coaching Catastrophes: Sam Vincent was Jordan’s first selection as head coach in 2007. Vincent was so unpopular with his own team that they locked him out of the locker room “Several times” during half time. Once, after an unlikely successful west coast trip going 3-1 a source on the team told the NY Post’s Peter Vecsey “The players had a meeting and said, ‘[Bleep] the coach, let’s win for ourselves”. Vincent led the team to a 32-50 record, he was fired after one season. 

Next Jordan turned to another old friend, Larry Brown to bring a hardnosed defensive culture to Charlotte. Brown initially had a successful first season, leading the team to a playoff berth with a record of 44-38. However, his tenure soon spiralled as many predicted it would, he moaned at front office decisions and complained about player effort until it got to a point where he couldn’t take it anymore at stepped down. After an interim coaching stint from the late Paul Silas who satisfied the desires of most Charlotte fans after shoving Tyrus Thomas into a locker, Charlotte appointed Mike Dunlap in 2012.

Dunlap was chosen as the head coach over fellow finalists Quinn Snyder and Brian Shaw (Yikes) At the time of his appointment, Dunlap's coaching experience was mainly limited to the Australian league with the Adelaide 36ers and coaching at Division II and III schools. He was serving as an assistant at St. John's when he was given the opportunity. Dunlap was known for his promise of implementing a full-court press and holding lengthy practices. However, his tenure proved to be highly disappointing, as the team finished with a dismal 21-61 record, and he didn't last beyond one season.

Even Ben Gordon knew the Dunlap era was going to be a catastrophe as he reportedly told the coach to “Humble himself” during a practice where he refused to stop bouncing or give the ball to his head coach. Gordon was clearly in the wrong and traded shortly after, but this example further alludes to the difficult Dunlap had in building a relationship with his team. A more recent example was the firing of James Borrego in 2022, just nine months after giving him a 3-year contract extension. Jordan then hired Kenny Atkinson, only for him to pull out a week later and leave the team to hire their former head coach Steve Clifford. It's evident that Jordan's track record in selecting head coaches has been filled with mistakes and missteps.

Ben Gordon and Mike Dunlap's relationship didn't last long

- Selling Picks and Chronic Under Funding: From 2006 to 2017, Charlotte made the decision to sell 7 out of 10 second-round draft picks for cash. Only Derrick Brown, Jeff Taylor, and Dwayne Bacon managed to survive as second-round picks during that decade. It is puzzling how a team with such poor performance on the court placed such little value on the draft. The choice to sell picks directly rests with the owner, as it is unlikely that Rod Higgins or Rich Cho were advocating for selling draft picks. However, it is worth noting that Jordan eventually realized his mistake. After appointing Mitch Kupchak in 2017, Charlotte quietly transformed into one of the best development spots in the NBA for late-round picks.

Earlier this year Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports! Came on the All Hornets Podcast Network and discussed the reputation Jordan has gained for his lack of spending.

“The Hornets as an organisation are not known as a team that are willing to spend. I don’t just mean in free agency and ducking the tax, I think a lot of people talk about in terms of spending is infrastructure, coaching staff, front office. When the Hornets came to Brooklyn they stayed in a 4* Holiday Inn. No NBA team stays in anything below a 5* property. Things like that, things get noticed. They are historically known to be a bottom five team in terms of spending on staff. That right there is a limiting factor in an organisation reaching the upper echelons of this league in competition.”

- Dreadful Draft Nights: Take your pick, in 2017 head coach Steve Clifford was reportedly “On the table in the war room saying we need to draft Donovan Mitchell”. He was overruled according to Marc Stein, the Hornets eventually selected Malik Monk. In 2015 Charlotte turned down a monster trade package from Boston including six picks (Including four potential first-rounders). Despite Steve Clifford pushing for Devin Booker, Charlotte selected Frank Kaminsky with the 9th pick.

In 2012 the 7-59 Charlotte Hornets missed out on the Hall-of-Fame talent Anthony Davis, leading to one of the saddest looking lottery reactions anyone has seen. Charlotte drafted Michael Kidd-Gilchrist 2nd overall, passing on Bradley Beal (3rd) and Damian Lillard (6th). Truth be told reports suggested that neither Beal or Lillard were ever in contention for Charlotte with Thomas Robinson and Harrison Barnes the other players in contention at #2. Kidd-Gilchrist had his moments in Charlotte, but never developed his raw offensive skill-set and hitchy jump shot to be anything more than a role player. The fact that MKG was out of the NBA shortly after his extension expired in Charlotte reinforces that despite his exemplary attitude and work ethic, compared to expectations for the 2nd pick in the draft he was a bust.

The one-time ownership did listen to their head coach during the draft in backfired. In 2008 Stanford Center Brook Lopez slipped to Charlotte at ninth, the team even informed Lopez’s agents he was going to be drafted by Charlotte. However, Larry Brown “Wouldn’t stop protesting in the draft room” until the team took D.J. Augustin, Jordan eventually relented. The run of the mill disappointments like Adam Morrison at #3 or Noah Vonleh at #9 would normally make a team’s shortlist for “Worst pick”, but in this era they are just your average run-of-the mill bust.

One could make the argument Charlotte’s development system failed their draft picks, they didn’t put them in a position to be successful. This comes down to the team’s off-court support network helping athletes adapt to a new city and situation as well as quality player development coaching, most of which was unsuccessful until the Kupchak era. Charlotte’s inability to hit in the draft have compounded the franchise’s on court failures countless times creating a never-ending cycle of regret and disappointment for the franchise.

-Free Agency Woes – Nic Batum, Lance Stephenson & Gordon Hayward’s free agency contracts collectively lasted for 12 LONG years, a chilling reminder of why CAP space is not Michael Jordan’s friend. Interestingly, these signings are all interconnected, so let's delve into each of them in more detail.

Lance Stephenson - 3 Years $27 million After failing to secure Gordon Hayward from Utah with a restricted free agent offer sheet, Charlotte had to quickly find an alternative in free agency and settled on Lance Stephenson. Unfortunately, Stephenson's performance at the start of the 2014-15 season was abysmal, prompting the Hornets to consider trading him even before the allowed trading period (after 23 games). Stephenson struggled alongside Kemba Walker in the backcourt, averaging just 8.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.1 turnovers, while shooting a disappointing 38% from the field and a mere 17% from three-point range. His poor floor spacing and inefficient ball movement on offense led to him being benched in the fourth quarters. The season before Charlotte had taken Miami Heat to 7 games in the first round of the playoffs, now just eight months later Charlotte endured a 10 game losing streak towards the start of the 2014-15 season.

Nic Batum 5 years $120 million - Not technically a free agent signing, but an extension using Charlotte’s CAP space. After being traded from Portland to Charlotte, Nic Batum had high hopes of flourishing in a more prominent role. In 2016, Batum had an impressive season, averaging 15.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.9 assists, with a field goal percentage of 40% and a three-point percentage of 33%. His performance generated buzz and talk of potential All-Star recognition. As a result, Charlotte signed Batum to a five-year, $120 million contract extension, including a player option for the fifth year.

However, in the following year's preseason, Batum suffered a ligament tear in his elbow just a minute into the first pre-season game. Over the remaining two and a half years of his contract, Batum's performance sharply declined, averaging only 9.4 points, 4 rebounds, and 4.1 assists, with a field goal percentage of 43% and a three-point percentage of 36%.To compound matters, in the final year of Batum's contract, the team made the mistake of signing Gordon Hayward, which further strained their salary cap situation. Speaking of Hayward...

Gordon Hayward 4 years $120 million – After the Jazz matched the Hornets’ offer sheet in 2014, Jordan finally managed to lure Hayward to Charlotte. After averaging just 42 games per season between 2011-2014 in Boston and looking like a shell of the player he was in Utah due to injury, Charlotte decided this was the time to go “All in” for Hayward. GM Mitch Kupchak spoke at length about building through the draft and trades, this move in particular felt like it had Jordan’s finger prints on it.

At the time, it was evident that the Hornets had overpaid for Hayward, the small market tax you might call it, but they had to waive and stretch Nic Batum to do it which meant Hayward’s salary cap figure was essentially $38 million per year. Hayward’s performance levels have bordered on acceptable for his salary. However, when you take into account his 47 game average as well as missing two play-in games through injury. It is clear that the outcome of this signing has not met the expectations of either party and has unfolded in a predictably disappointing manner.

- Trading Tyson Chandler for the “Dust Chip”: Charlotte made the decision to trade their starting center, Tyson Chandler, who was 27 years old at the time and an integral part of their playoff team. In return, they acquired Eric Dampier, Matt Carroll, and Eddy Najera. The reasoning behind this move was to utilize Dampier's unique "Voidable" contract as a potential asset, with rumors of Chris Paul popular in the summer of 2010. Eventually Dampier was waived, Chandler went onto win an NBA championship the next year with the Mavericks. But hey, at least Matt Carroll was able to retire a Bobcat.

Overall, Jordan's tenure as an owner has been marked by poor decisions, failed coaching hires, underinvestment, disappointing draft picks, and unsuccessful free agency signings. It's a story of missed opportunities and regrettable choices that have hindered the team's success on the court.

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