Michael Jordan, the legendary basketball player, is finalizing a deal to sell the majority share of the Charlotte Hornets, as announced by the franchise on Friday. The sale will leave the 30-team NBA without any Black majority ownership. The purchasing group is led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall, with Plotkin already being a minority stakeholder in the Hornets since 2019, while Schnall has been a minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks since 2015.
The exact timeline for finalizing the sale is unclear, as it requires approval from the NBA’s Board of Governors. Jordan, who bought the team in 2010 for around $275 million, plans to retain a minority stake in the Hornets. This decision marks the end of Jordan’s 13-year tenure as the owner of the Hornets, during which the team did not achieve championship success.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has acknowledged Jordan’s right to sell and mentioned the league’s focus on diversity in ownership groups. While the sale price has not been announced officially, ESPN reported that the franchise is being valued at $3 billion. It’s worth noting that the most recent sale of an NBA team was when Mat Ishbia bought the Phoenix Suns for $4 billion in December.
The new potential ownership group of the Hornets includes notable figures such as recording artist J. Cole, Dan Sundheim, Ian Loring, Eric Church, Chris Shumway, and several local investors from Charlotte.
Under Jordan’s ownership, the Hornets struggled to achieve success on the court, with a record of 423-600 over 13 seasons. The team failed to win a playoff series during Jordan’s tenure and has not made the postseason in the last seven seasons.
Despite the team’s recent struggles, the Hornets possess promising young talent, including LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward, P.J. Washington, and Mark Williams. The Hornets hold the No. 2 pick in the upcoming NBA draft.
Jordan’s ownership was criticized for not investing enough in free agency to make the team competitive. The Hornets had one playoff appearance in 2013-14 but were swept in the first round by the Miami Heat. Since then, they have had only one winning season and have twice exited early in the play-in tournament as the 10th seed.
The sale of the Hornets marks a significant change in NBA ownership, with the league currently lacking Black majority owners.
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