I owe Rick Bonnell and apology. The Bobcats have been sold, or rather a controlling interest in the team has shifted from Bob Johnson to Michael Jordan. Details are slow in coming but it appears that Bob’s Cats have become Jordan’s Bobcats.

I am not sure what this means right now. I believe it will grow the sponsorships, I think that it will draw a bit of attention at first and that it’s going to be very interesting for all of us. Michael Jordan is a huge, huge personality and a looming presence for any area, let alone the NBA. He has been somewhat “absentee” as manager of basketball operations. Then again so has Mr. Johnson.

MJ has always been able to pull in sponsorships and I hope that can carry over to the Bobcats. I’m interested to see the level of activity he’ll have here in Charlotte. While he is a North Carolina “native” (Born in New York but grew up and went to college and his parents lived here throughout) Jordan has been known for his time in Chicago, making a home there. As a very wealthy person he can live and basically be wherever he wants whenever he wants. Rumors have him spending most of his time in South Florida and who could blame him, with an apparent girlfriend from the area and a huge new home.

Charlotte will be the home of his most visible and largest stake of any of his many and varied interests. All eyes will be on him, whether it’s due or not. Charlotte as a sports town started with George Shinn and continued with Jerry Richardson, two semi-retired men whose only interest were their respective teams. Bob Johnson’s short comings were possibly the product of his misunderstanding of the Charlotte market. He tried things others wouldn’t and people saw them as mistakes. They were gambles.

I doubt things will change that much as it’s a minority owner coming to be the controlling partner. You certainly won’t see immediate changes and likely nothing sweeping.

One thing I do know for sure: I was wrong and didn’t expect this to happen. I certainly didn’t think Bob Johnson to take a loss.