The Rebel wrote:Effigy wrote:My recollection is that when MJ bought the team, the league kind of stepped in and helped make sure he was able to do it. I don't remember the specifics, so maybe I'm misremembering, but It seemed at the time that the NBA was very much trying to get this team to Jordan. And when you recall that they originally awarded the franchise to BET Founder Robert Johnson, and then may have helped Jordan get it, it's a strange look to me that there isn't more of a push to try to make sure the next owner is also a black owner.
It feels like we are in for some articles from journalists pointing out that the nearly all black league will have no black ownership once this goes through, and until Lebron gets the Vegas team. Why not make more of an effort to get a black owner for this team? Particularly if that is what they have done in the past?
The NBA helping Jordan had nothing to do with race, they helped him buy the team because Bob Johnson did a cash call and his investors/partners refused to give him more money. The league already had New Orleans and was going to have to foreclose on the Bobcats because they couldn't make the payments on the line of credit and pay some of the players there payroll. I.E. they were bankrupt.
The NBA gives teams a line of credit that can be used to make payroll, marketing, and anything else they need however it was only for 60% of the purchase price at that time. They removed that requirement so that Jordan could buy the team by making all past due payments and taking over the debt as it was owed at the time. In other words removing the 40% down that other owners had to come up with.
That line of credit was changed to 80% of the value during the pandemic, but prior to Jordan buying the Bobcats they stuck to the 60% for everybody.
People don't realize that it was only 12 years ago we had 2 teams basically bankrupt and several others on the verge of bankruptcy. They helped Jordan because he was literally the only one willing to buy one of the bankrupt teams.
Great point-
someone gonna buy Bobcats and make them the Sonics.
