Michael Jordan Buys Charlotte Bobcats

It's a new era in Charlotte, though little on the court will change. Michael Jordan has successfully purchased the Bobcats, an NBA team he has essentially run for three years now. Jordan became an equity partner in 2006, taking over basketball operations, which meant implementing his own front office (led by old friend Rod Higgins).

The growth was slow, but for the first time in the six-season history of the club, the Bobcats are in a legitimate hunt for the playoffs. (As of this writing, Charlotte is a half-game out of the eighth and final seed in the East.) Moves by Jordan's front office -- the hiring of Larry Brown in 2008, the signing of Gerald Wallace to a contract extension two years ago, the trade for Stephen Jackson in a Golden State salary dump earlier this season -- put the team here. And while Charlotte holds an atrocious contract or two (DeSagana Diop, Jackson in a couple years' time) and blew a top-three pick (Adam Morrison, 2006) under Jordan's watch, this is what progress looks like.

There have been complaints that Jordan is an absentee boss, spending more time on golf courses, in cigar rooms, at galas celebrating the industry of Jordan than at the arena. But that's not necessarily a bug in the NBA -- it can be a feature, provided you surround yourself with smart cookies. Higgins, again, has had mixed results. But MJ trusts him, and he works well with Brown (a must), and it's come together.

Where the Bobcats need Jordan the most, though, is in public, making the case for the team as an entertainment option worthy of Carolina's dollars. The Bobcats, even in this successful season, sit in the bottom third in attendance. If Jordan as an NBA owner -- the most famous team sports owner on the planet, bar none, no questions asked -- helps the league in the eyes of the world, Jordan as the owner of the Bobcats should help the franchise itself at home. And while Jordan's very involvement could perhaps have been seen in the same light, there's one key difference: Jordan has something like $200 million riding on the success of the team now. Owners tend to do crazy things to build their brand, due to the stakes. We could potentially see a more active Jordan-as-salesman.

Or, perhaps, Jordan will remain enamored of his own mystique, continuing to spend the rainy winter in the Bahamas, playing poker and wearing bad denim. And maybe instead of Bobcats games becoming the events in Charlotte, the half-dozen games MJ deigns to show up will become the noteworthy nights. It's up to Jordan to do right by the rabid basketball fans of North Carolina, the folks who in another city in another time helped him become rich enough to be able to afford to buy a professional basketball team.

MJ has amazed us countless times before. Let's hope he can make us smile again, by making this franchise a success.