Michael Jordan the player will forever remain in the conversation for best player in NBA history. There’s no denying that without sounding like a clueless contrarian looking to debate solely for the sake of argument.
Jordan the executive on the other hand has been, for lack of a more fitting term, terrible. This was more evident than ever after his Charlotte Bobcats set a record for futility by going 7-59 in 2011-2012 (a record .106 winning percentage. Ouch).
Apparently that was enough for number 23 to step aside, as ESPN the Magazine reports that Jordan will take a step back from basketball decisions regarding the Bobcats in favor of Rich Cho:
In order to win basketball gaes, Michael Jordan has removed himself from the equation. He’s promised his front office staff that he’ll let them do their jobs without his shadow looming over their war-room marker boards. More unlikely still, he’s handed over the reins of the Bobcats to a next-generation GM, armed with high-level metrics, to do for Charlotte what he helped do for Oklahoma City — and in doing so, salvage Jordan’s flagging basketball reputation.
This is actually a great decision by Jordan, given that his track record of basketball decisions leaves much to be desired. As an executive with the Washington Wizards, Jordan infamously drafted Kwame Brown first overall, opting for the raw high schooler over the like of Tyson Chandler and Pau Gasol.
Working as assistant GM Cho was a key part of constructing the Oklahoma City Thunder’s young, talented core by drafting Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Serge Ibaka. Cho worked as GM for the Trail Blazers from 2010-2011 before accepting the Bobcats GM position in 2011.
The encouraging thins about the Bobcats situation is that the Bobcats are young and with Kemba Walker and rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist appear to going in the right direction.
Whether or not Cho can salvage the damage already done to the Bobcats still remains to be seem.
-ALR
