NBA Team Executives Angry With Michael Jordan's 'Unfair Advantage'

It has been a tough week for Michael Jordan. First he gets fined $15,000 for making a passing reference to Kevin Durant. Now, the whole world seems to be mad at him.

Several team executives are upset with what they consider an unfair advantage: They want David Stern and the NBA to ban MJ from being directly involved with the Jordan Brand All-American Classic (one of the most prestigious high school all-star games in the country, having drawn LeBron James, Chris Paul, and Durant in recent years) and his Flight School camps because of the exclusive access these events provide him to top high school talent.

"Danny Ainge ends up seated next to Kevin Durant's mother and gets fined $30,000, but Michael goes out and plays one on one with [top high school prospect] O.J. Mayo and it is not a problem?" one Western Conference general manager grumbled.

"I would simply like to hear how the league explains that this is not a clear advantage for M.J.," one Eastern Conference general manager said.

"If a kid gets caught smoking dope back at the hotel, Jordan is going to know about it and no one else will," one G.M. said. "He'll have a better evaluation on whether to draft that player."

The problem, you see, is that Jordan wears many hats: He's both a minority owner and Managing Member of Basketball Operations of the Charlotte Bobcats; he's also a top exec at Nike.

"When Michael came back to the NBA, he should have dissolved any ties to anything in violation of the rules," one Western Conference executive said. "Jordan can have the coach [of the All-American game] work the player out, test his knowledge or ability to pick up NBA concepts.

For the time being, the NBA is saying that Jordan has "agreed to certain limitations with regards to the Flight School and the All-American Classic to keep in compliance with [League] rules," but since these complaints have now gone public (and on such a strong note), don't expect this story to go away quietly or anytime soon.