Michael Jordan Selling His Majority Stake In The Hornets Could Potentially Be The Pathway To Charlotte Landing Zion Williamson
Kent Smith. Getty Images.Well, I can't exactly say this news is all that surprising. About three months ago to the day, we learned that this was going to eventually happen
Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan is engaged in serious talks to sell a majority stake in the franchise to a group led by Hornets minority owner Gabe Plotkin and Atlanta Hawks minority owner Rick Schnall, sources told ESPN on Thursday.
No deal is imminent, but there's significant momentum on a sale that would eventually install Plotkin and Schnall as the co-governors of the Hornets, sources said.
If a sale is completed, Jordan is expected to remain with a minority stake in the franchise, sources said.
Fast forward to Woj's tweets today, and that is exactly what happened. As it turns out, owning the Hornets ended up being a pretty good investment for MJ considering he bought the team for $180M and now it's worth over $1.7B. Sure they haven't won jack shit and only have a few first round losses to their name since MJ took over, but whatever. Money is money and he's about to cash in.
What I care about comes next though. We usually see a trend when a team brings in new owners. All you have to do is look at what happened just this past season. The Phoenix Suns found themselves a new owner on December 20th
What happened just a few months later?
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When a new owner comes to town, almost always do we see that team be super aggressive and make a splash. Sometimes they fire coaches/front office people so they can bring in their own guys, sometimes they make blockbuster trades to win now and bring excitement around the team from fans.
So why does this matter with the Hornets, who we now know is about to have new ownership?
Certainly makes you think, doesn't it? A North Carolina kid getting traded to Charlotte to start this new era of Hornets basketball doesn't exactly sound like the most insane thing that could happen. You don't think LaMelo Ball and Zion together puts asses in seats? There are more and more rumors that the Pelicans are trying to move up to get Scoot Henderson, and that would certainly be a path to getting there.
Normally I would have ignored that Zion rumor, but now that MJ is selling his share of the Hornets, this is usually how things go in the NBA. Now those rumors make a lot more sense and seem a lot more plausible. That doesn't guarantee it'll happen of course, but I can see the thinking behind it.