Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Michael Jordan has been telling Charlotte Bobcats fans that the team is headed in the right direction, despite a 21-61 finish for the second worst record for the 2012-13 season. He obviously has to say that whether or not it’s true. No NBA team chairman is going to tell the fans the team is on the wrong path. Once he does that, he might as well have the franchise up for sale.
The Bobcats obviously improved from a 7-59 record in the 66-game season for 2011-12, but Jordan, as chairman of the Bobcats, obviously wants a winner. He didn’t settle for anything less as a player, and he’s not planning on doing that as a chairman. They won their last three games to avoid having the league’s worst record by one game.
They avoided that distinction, but Jordan in a letter late in the season to fans on the team’s website admitted that while there were things in place for the team to compete at the no. 7 or 8 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, the decision was acknowledged to start from scratch and build a team that could take the franchise places.
Jordan points out that Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Kemba Walker both participated in the Rising Stars Challenges during the NBA All-Star weekend. Jordan expects to be $20 million under the salary camp and notes the Bobcats should have four first-round draft picks the next two seasons.
That’s the blueprint, but it’s not always a plan that succeeds. Jordan will get a few more years, but then the fans will be expecting to get their money’s worth.
