Michael Jordan-owned Charlotte Bobcats could become worst team in NBA history

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest NBA player ever, is poised to become the owner of the worst team in league history.

His embarrassingly bad Charlotte Bobcats have one more shot to avoid the title.

Heading into Thursday night's regular-season finale, the Bobcats are teetering on the verge of the worst winning percentage (.106) ever and could clinch the dubious distinction with a loss at home to the New York Knicks in the lockout-shortened season.

Charlotte is a woeful 7-58 and its record-setting futility would eclipse the 39-year-old mark held by the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers. That team finished 9-73 (.110) in a full regular season.

Jordan led Chicago to six NBA championships, but his Bobcats get no respect -- Charlotte has become the butt of jokes.

"It has been tough, but we are just trying to move forward," guard D.J. Augustin said. "Many people are laughing at us and making (the streak) as a joke, but we take it very seriously. We are just trying to stay positive and play hard until the end."

With a loss to the Knicks the Bobcats would finish the season with a 23-game losing streak -- ironically the same number Jordan wore with the Bulls. The streak is a franchise record, topping the 16-game skid from earlier in the season.

The NBA record is 26 straight losses set last season by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Coach Paul Silas certainly would like to avoid the embarrassment of being known as the coach of the worst team ever.

"If we get a win it will be the best thing that has happened to us all season," Silas said.

While Jordan was known as an intense competitor on the court, his team hasn't been very competitive this season.

The Bobcats have lost 21 games by 20 or more points and nine by 30 points or more. Staggering numbers but not surprising considering Charlotte is last in the league in scoring and shooting percentage.

Jordan told the Charlotte Observer on Wednesday that he knew this was going to be a trying year, but didn't expect it would be this bad.

"But did we want to chase the most pingpong balls (in the May 30 draft lottery)? No way," Jordan told the newspaper. "Ever since I've owned the team I think we've made some very positive moves on the business side. We had to make a difficult decision to turn over the talent. This year the talent we had didn't respond, but that doesn't cause me to turn my back on the plan."

The top six players from the Bobcats' lone playoff team two season ago -- Stephen Jackson (San Antonio), Gerald Wallace (New Jersey), Raymond Felton (Portland), Boris Diaw (Sacramento), Nazr Mohammed (Oklahoma City) and Tyson Chandler (New York) -- all are gone, having either been traded or waived under Jordan's watch.

The Bobcats' current roster is full of inexperienced players.

"I keep reminding myself it's a young team," Silas said.

Jordan has asked fans to be patient. The Bobcats should be more than $20 million under the salary cap, which means they could make some noise in free agency.

They also have a 25 percent chance of landing the No. 1 pick in the draft, likely to be Kentucky's Anthony Davis.

Still, that means little to this group of players who are focused on avoiding being tagged as the worst team in NBA history.

Swingman Gerald Henderson called this year a learning process.

"Nobody in here is used to losing like we have lost this year," he said. "It just kind of humbles you and teaches you a lot about what it takes to be successful in this game. It also teaches you what it takes to have a good team in the NBA.

"Hopefully we will come out with a win" against New York.

The Knicks have already clinched a playoff spot and cannot enhance their seeding, so it's possible they may rest several starters against the Bobcats.

"If we play like we played (against Orlando in Wednesday night's 102-95 loss) I think we'll have a chance," Silas said.

Jordan doesn't seem to be taking the losing too hard.

He attended a Chicago Blackhawks playoff game on Monday night rather than watching his Bobcats play on the road at Washington.

Perhaps one of the NBA's greatest winners is tired of losing.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/04/26/michael-jordan-owned-charlotte-bobcats-could-become-worst-team-in-nba-history/

Jordan says he's 100 percent committed to Bobcats

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Michael Jordan said Sunday that he's 100 percent committed to the Charlotte Bobcats and has no intention of selling the struggling NBA franchise.

The Bobcats have lost 12 of their last 14 games and own the league's worst record at 7-43, but Jordan says he isn't ready to bail out on the team after the Hall of Famer bought control of the organization from Bob Johnson in March 2010.

The New York Daily News reported Sunday that Jordan has contemplated selling if the team doesn't turn things around - both in performance and profitability.

"I was disturbed to hear the false report that I intend to sell my majority interest in the Charlotte Bobcats," Jordan said in a statement. "I am 100 percent committed to building the Bobcats into a contender and have no plans to sell the team."

The Bobcats are clearly in a rebuilding mode and it will likely take some time to turn them into a contender. The team traded away veteran stars Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson with the hope of rebuilding through young talent.

They're now looking to build the franchise around lottery picks Kemba Walker and Bismack Biyombo, as well as young players such as Gerald Henderson, D.J. Augustin and Byron Mullens. The process has been a painful one for coach Paul Silas, whose contract is up in July.

The Bobcats are on pace to finish with the second-worst point differential per game since 1976, losing by an average of 13.1 points. The only NBA team with a worse mark than the Bobcats is the 1992-93 Dallas Mavericks (15.2 ppg).

The only positive is the Bobcats are practically guaranteed to earn one of the first four picks in the NBA draft. If they finish with the NBA's worst record they will have a 25 percent chance in the draft lottery of landing the No. 1 pick - possibly Kentucky's Anthony Davis, the AP Player of the Year.

Jordan recently has made efforts to help the community, and even agreed to a sponsorship deal with a local hospital in Charlotte. He has donated money to area projects to support school systems and battle hunger, calling the initiative "Cats Care."

He has said repeatedly that he believes strongly in making an impact in Charlotte and the surrounding community through his position as Bobcats owner.

Although the team's financial situation has improved since Jordan took over the franchise, Forbes magazine recently estimated the Bobcats are losing more than $10 million annually.

Source: http://www.nba.com/2012/news/04/01/bobcats-jordan.ap/index.html

Game Changers: Undersized players left big mark on league

It was one of those remarks that most people thought was absurd at the time, but not so much nowadays.

Allan Bristow, former coach of the then-Charlotte Hornets, said: "Everyone talks about how we'll never see another Michael Jordan and we'll never see another Larry Bird. But truth is, we'll never see another Muggsy Bogues."

You could say a lot of folks sold Bristow short. While we are indeed waiting for the next Jordan, and perhaps we saw the next Bird during the 2011 NBA Finals, our great-grandchildren might be the only witnesses the next time a 5-foot-3 player darts around the floor like a pinball and carves out a very productive NBA career.

Plain and simple, NBA teams just aren't big on little guys anymore. Not that they ever were. But you just don't see an abundance of players under 6-feet on rosters, and definitely none in All-Star Games.

That makes Muggsy, Spud Webb and Calvin Murphy before both of them, Game Changers who paved the way for the little man -- even though the NBA still practices size discrimination.

Only three sub-6-footers were on active rosters last season. None was what you'd consider a star, or even close. And none was selected in the first round of the most recent Draft. Which means there's no Muggsy in the works. (He was the 12th pick of the 1987 Draft, in case you forgot.)

The game at the highest level remains a near-impossible goal for anyone who measures up to Yao Ming's kneecaps. And those who happen to squeeze through the cracks are mainly role players or gimmicks who don't last very long or change the minds of NBA general managers.

The reasons are obvious and numerous. Lack of size translates into big issues, mainly on the defensive end, where they're posted up more than a yellow sticky memo. And they're stuck playing only one position. And they must be exceptional athletes, or extraordinarily good at shooting and/or dribbling, to have a chance.

Webb once said: "I see myself as a basketball player, just like anyone else in the league," but not everyone else in the league could jump almost two feet over his own height. An unmatched vertical leap kept Webb (5-foot-7) in a uniform, although he was also a very efficient passer and could hit the jumper if left open. Like most short players, he compensated for, or covered up, his weaknesses very well; anything less would've been fatal to his career.

Bogues was a freak of nature. He had no business lasting 14 seasons in the NBA, or being selected in the first round, because he had no tremendous skill. He wasn't a terrific outside shooter, nor was he a leaper (and even if he were, it wasn't going to help) and as a passer he was solid but not Stockton-like. His gifts were amazing quickness, both with his feet and hands; a low center of gravity that gave him great balance and assisted him defensively; and anticipation. He was also very smart at knowing how players would try to exploit him; he'd been trained for that his entire basketball life.

The gold standard, of course was Murphy, the shortest player in the Hall of Fame at 5-foot-9. He was the purest basketball player of any little man who ever made the NBA. Murphy could shoot with range, had a tight dribble and could spot the open man (when he decided to pass the ball, anyway). He was listed as a point guard, but in truth Murphy was an undersized shooter who averaged 20-plus points five times and finished with a career scoring average of 17.9 points. And he was feisty, willing and able to challenge taller and heavier players who dared to impose their physical strength on him.

Beyond those three players, the little man has mainly been short on impact and numbers, with only a few exceptions.

Michael Adams made himself a dangerous 3-point specialist in the Doug Moe system with the Nuggets in the late 1980s. Avery Johnson, the Little General, had a decent run with the Spurs in the 1990s. Terrell Brandon was a two-time All-Star and was solid for the Cavs and Wolves in the 1990s. Damon Stoudamire, the 1996 Rookie of the Year, gradually faded as the years went on.

Allen Iverson was slightly built (160 pounds after dessert) but listed at 6-feet, whether anyone believed it or not. Isiah Thomas was 6-foot-1. In fact, there has been a host of players in the low 6-foot range who had good and even great careers. Some are still active.

But sub-6-footers? Only a small number. So to speak.