What does winning feel like? Just ask these guys:
And of course:
Lebron continues to chase rings, Kobe is basking in retirement, for now, and Michael Jordan has re-entered the NBA in the form of an owner. Since 2010 Michael Jordan has been the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets (then known as the Charlotte Bobcats). Ever since Jordan took over the Hornets, they’ve been a piece of crap. Forever stuck in mediocrity, the Hornets have yet to taste even a modicum of success. In fact, they’re the only NBA franchise that has never experienced winning at a high level. Since their inception in 2004, the Hornets have yet to win a playoff series. Since Jordan’s arrival, the Hornets have astounded the NBA with their utter idiocy at drafting, signing, and trading for players. They finally showed potential signs of progress last year when they lost an incredibly competitive playoff series to the Miami Heat in 7 games…..only to regress and miss the playoffs this year. They’re back to doing what they do best, losing. The tragedy of the Charlotte Hornets continues.
OK, maybe I’m being a little too harsh on them. After all they are the most recent NBA franchise to join the league and you can argue it takes a lot of time to build a winner, but how long will it take? A brief look at this team’s draft record says everything you need to know. You will notice the inexcusably horrendous scouting and missed opportunities this team had to take a gigantic step forward, and it all starts at the top with Mr. Michael Jeffrey Jordan.
Despite his enormous success as a player, Michael Jordan has frankly been a failure when it comes to the task of team building. Time and time again, he has struck out on stars and superstars in favor of players who…..well frankly I don’t know what he saw in them, but we’ll get to these players in a bit.
After his retirement, Michael Jordan began his post-NBA career by returning to the NBA as the President of the Wizards. His time with the Wizards is infamously known among NBA fans for drafting this dude:
Whoops! I accidentally posted a meme of him, but its very telling of Brown’s career. He was selected 1st overall in the 2001 NBA Draft. Michael “Team Builder” Jordan took him over players such as Pau Gasol, Joe Johnson, and Tony Parker. Kwame Brown was the magnum opus of Michael “Team Builder” Jordan whether he felt it so or not. It was Jordan’s first major move as a man in charge of building a team, and he screwed it up. Kwame Brown is widely viewed as one of the biggest draft busts of all time. So what did Jordan do? He was so fed up, he came out of retirement to play for the Wizards (that’s actually pretty badass).
After his stint with the Wizards fizzled, Jordan joined the Hornets (who were named the Bobcats at the time) as their President and a minority-owner. He once again screwed up by drafting another major bust in Adam Morrison. He continued making terrible moves which ultimately put the Hornets in no-man’s land, not good enough to make it into the playoffs yet not bad enough to get a high draft pick to land a star. In 2010, he became the majority-owner, and yes you guessed right, continued to plague the team with terrible decisions. He finally understood it was best to bring in an expert to build a team and decided to hire Rich Cho to that position. From 2001 – 2011, here were some notable Michael “Team Builder” Jordan moves:
- Kwame Brown (bust)
- Emeka Okafor (miss)
- Adam Morrison (bust)
- DJ Augustin (miss)
- Traded for Desagana Diop (was probably a worse free throw shooter than Shaq)
- Tyson Chandler (didn’t play well with the team)
- Traded away Gerald Wallace, the only notable player who was the only all-star in team history until Kemba Walker
I won’t blame if you don’t know any of these players. It’s a bad record, but give credit to Jordan for finally bringing in an expert in Rich Cho to run the team, but how effective has Cho been?
Rich Cho comes in and hits on a star in Kemba Walker in the 2011 NBA Draft, but alas, the team only wins 7 games in the 2011 – 2012 season. It took 5 years for the Hornets to show legitimate progress. In the 2015 – 2016 NBA season, the Hornets finished with a 48 – 34 record and FINALLY made the playoffs! It was a huge stepping stone for a franchise that had been marred in astounding mediocrity. The laughingstock of the NBA finally looked like a legitimate powerhouse in the making. Then came the playoffs and they lost to the Heat in the first round, but it was a thrilling matchup nonetheless that went to 7 games. All of a sudden, things were looking up for Charlotte.
Coming into this past season, expectations were high for the Hornets and Jordan felt his team could make quite a bit of noise. However they completely faltered and missed the playoffs. Based off team play, it seems like perhaps this roster has hit its peak and needs a full rebuild. Unfortunately it won’t be that easy.
This team’s future does not look promising as they’re tied to a boatload of rich contracts for mediocre players. Even if they did want to rebuild, it’ll be hard to offshore those contracts. Kemba Walker is a bright light, but he is not a player who can carry a team into the NBA finals. The rest of their roster is filled with overpaid players and young prospects who have not shown promise. As much as I ragged on Michael “Team Builder” Jordan, Rich Cho hasn’t done a great job either. Here’s a list of his notable moves from 2011 till now:
- Drafted Bismack Biyombo (never played well on the team)
- Drafted Kemba Walker (a good pick)
- Drafted Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (has not lived up to his potential. Now getting overpaid)
- Drafted Cody Zeller (has shown some promise, but its not looking good)
- Drafted Noah Vonleh (fizzled out, no longer with the team)
- Drafted Frank Kaminsky (has not shown promise)
- Signed Al Jefferson (did not work out)
- Signed Jeremy Lin (very good fit, but they let him go in free agency)
- Signed Nicolas Batum (overpaid mediocre player)
- Signed Marvin Williams (overpaid mediocre player)
- Traded for Miles Plumlee (overpaid mediocre player)
Enough ragging, how do you fix this team?
It starts with Michael Jordan. Jordan has already the passed the critical first step, which is taking himself out of decision making. He was able to overcome his ego and allow an experienced executive to run the team. The owners of the Kings and Knicks could take a page out of Jordan’s decision. There’s a reason why those two franchises are in a dismal state today.
Secondly, Jordan has to look for a President / General Manager who knows what to do. He must find an individual who has a clear set of philosophies and will use them as the basis for team building. What do I mean by that? Look at the Spurs. The Spurs target players who are selfless, devoid of an ego, and aren’t idiotic knuckleheads on and off the court. That’s their philosophy when it comes to team building. The Warriors also follow a similar philosophy. Other teams like the Celtics target tough-minded, physical players who are gritty and pride defense. Teams have differently building philosophies and the Hornets need to understand theirs. He must also be a great talent evaluator. Rich Cho had a positive history, but it simply hasn’t panned out in Charlotte. He has to go.
Third, the new President needs to find a coach that clearly communicates his / her coaching philosophies. Some coaches pride offense over all, some defense, and some passing. Steve Kerr, coach of the Warriors, heavily emphasizes defense and passing above all. Mike D’Antoni, coach of the Rockets, places high value in quick shots and passing. Current Hornets coach Steve Clifford wants to build through defense. It’s also extremely important for a great coach to adapt to his players. His / her ability to put their players in a position to succeed can be very tough to do, but the fruits of this labor cannot be ignored. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is the embodiment of this talent. Just look at all the players who’ve come through the Spurs. Several of them were left in the trash can by their previous organizations or overlooked in the draft process, but Coach Pop has found unique ways to include them in his schemes. Just look at Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. No one saw them coming. How about current superstar Kawhi Leonard? I don’t recall a single “analyst” talking up Kawhi as the next great superstar in basketball when he was coming out of college.
As I had mentioned, the Hornets current coach is Steve Clifford. He’s a good coach and I think he should stick around, but he can definitely improve. He doesn’t have the best roster to work with, but there are still good players in Charlotte and he should definitely be able to get more out of talented individuals like Nicolas Batum and Michael Kidd Gilchrist.
I guess time will tell how this story plays out. It doesn’t look like any major changes to this franchise will occur in the upcoming season and I cannot understand why Michael Jordan continues to stick with mediocrity. He’s a 6 x NBA Champion and a 5 x MVP, shouldn’t he of all people know the taste of a winning drink? What’s going on now? Why has Jordan settled for the same trodden path of nothingness when it’s clear this organization is on the wrong course? Michael Jordan has to channel his old winning days as a player and start making some winning moves. Until then, the tragedy of the Charlotte Hornets continues.
Slam Dunk 