It’s the very definition of irony. Not coincidence or “a bummer” mislabeled as irony, which you’ll hear from third-rate television and newspaper journalists everywhere. Michael Jordan, who won six titles with the Chicago Bulls, and is widely considered the greatest player in NBA history, has been an abject failure as an owner.
His NBA franchise, the Charlotte Bobcats, is 3-26 and on pace to have the worst season in NBA history. Talk about having a dichotomy in your legacy.
Because of the lockout-shortened season Charlotte won’t challenge the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers’ record of 72 losses. However, the Bobcats have lost 16 straight games and have a worse winning percentage (.103) than that infamous 76ers team.
“Everybody wants to make history but you don’t want to make history that way,” said Bobcats guard Matt Carroll, currently in his second stint with Charlotte. “You don’t want to be that team.”
Jordan isn’t talking as the losses continue to mount. He declined an interview request to the AP through the Bobcats media relations department.
Clearly, MJ just doesn’t know what he’s doing in this regard. He’s been a huge success in so many facets of life: as a player, business man, product endorser, entrepreneur…but owning a basketball team isn’t it.
The Bobcats will likely be $20 million under the salary cap next year so they should be able to get some quality free agents. They’ll also likely get a top four pick this NBA Draft, although not necessarily the overall #1 because of the NBA’s lottery system. However, they should have the most ping ping balls going for them, as the New Orleans Hornets, currently owner by the league because of ownership strife, come in penultimate with six wins currently.
Jordan’s Bobcats are just bad though, they’re bad among bad.
They have lost their last eight games by an average of 22.5 points.
They’ve been outscored by 14.4 points per game for the season, by far the most in the NBA this season. That puts them on pace for the second-worst margin of defeat since the NBA-ABA merger.
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site generating millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports
A Fulbright scholar and MBA, Banks has appeared on live radio all over the world; and he’s a member of the Football Writers Association of America, U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and Society of Professional Journalists. The President of the United States follows him on Twitter (@Paul_M_BanksTSB) You should too.