Bobcats ownership to be settled

[pantherfan49]

Well normally I would agree with you. But in this situation I dont. You lose Bob, youre more than likely gonna lose Mike, which in turn means you lose Larry Brown and all the prosperity you've built up the past few years.

KT, I agree with this with the caveat being that I don't see LB being here past next season anyways.

[Porn Shop Clerk]

I go to the games to owner watch, not watch a bunch of hoops ball.

[King Taharqa]

Are you saying Charlottes not a profitable market or the NBA in a whole? If you're saying Charlotte isn't then that is completely wrong. The Hornets were destroying NBA attendance records.

Yeah over 20 years ago when you didnt have an NFL franchise here and there wasnt as many people. This is not the same Charlotte.

Charlotte is still bitter with the NBA right now from the Hornets and the product the Bobcats have put out there has been terrible. It's just now starting to get good.A buddy of mine had 4 club seats and was dishing out over 20 grand a year on them and the team sucked. You can't expect people to come out and pay big time NBA prices for a team that is no where near the playoffs.

Golden State fans are rabid about the Warriors and that franchise is in worse shape than ours. Some markets support their product no matter what. Ours only supports products that are "likeable". Thats why I say this isnt a great market. There are alot of second tier cities in the US that would KILL to have a pro team like the Bobcats.

We're winning now and people are starting to talk. Soon the stadium will start to fill up. It's going to take time here.

We've heard that for 6 years. Win games and they will come. Well they aint coming and Bob's going broke keepin this ship afloat. A new owner is not gonna magically change this market.

[Johnny Rockets]

I know it can't happen but I have always wondered what would happen (local support, profitabilty, etc.) if Mark Cuban took over the Bobcats. I bet he would have that stadium full in no time.

[njpanther]

Larry Brown's average stay at each of his coaching stops is 3 years. How much longer do you think he will be here even if Jordon is here.

[Johnny Rockets]

We've heard that for 6 years. Win games and they will come. Well they aint coming and Bob's going broke keepin this ship afloat. A new owner is not gonna magically change this market.

I agree that Charlotte is a much different city than it was when the Hornets were here, but when in the 6 years have the Bobcats even come close to a winning season (until now)? I think that a couple of winning seasons and a playoff appearance would go a long way for fan support. A couple of months of good basketball is not going to change things over night.

For me, I just lost interest in the NBA when the Hornets left (eventhough I am a 76ers fan) and the Bobcats have done nothing to get my attention back. I think a lot of people feel that same way.

[Britneck]

The attendance dropped off in 2000. We had the Panthers then. I'm pretty sure Charlotte is bigger now then it was 20 years ago as well. I could be wrong though. You say we've heard that for 6 years but we didn't start winning until January of this year. Last year was some what close to winning but you never really felt like we were going to make a run to the playoffs. I like to know how many games you have attended this year? I don't know anything about GS fans but they have some fun young players to watch and have a much larger market then we do. Plus, people are just not making as much money as they use to and its hard to fork over 100 bucks to sit lower level for a team that wasn't winning and didn't show much effort. I'm not trying to fight with you at all about this. I enjoy your posts and your point of view on things. I just don't think you're being very realistic about it though. If we didn't have the market for it we wouldn't have gotten a new team as quick as we did. What was it? 2 years later?

[King Taharqa]

The Knicks are another organization that has an overwhelming losing record the past 10 years and one of the worst front offices in pro sports, yet manages to sell out almost all of its game. Now going to a Knicks game is alot more "glamourous" than going to see the Bobcats, but again this illustrates the "emotional attachment" factor being greater than just posting wins & losses. Look at OKC Thunder, not a winning season under their belt but their fans are rabid and sell out the games because they are hungry for basketball. and already have an emotional attachment to the team. Sacramento & Golden State arent considered winning franchises or even big market franchises for that matter, but have better attendance than the Bobcats. Some markets support their team no matter what because they have their cities name on their jerseys. Then you have markets like Charlotte's that have to like the owner and have a few winning seasons first before they support their team. This is why this isnt a great market for players & fans alike. Just like we see the lack of support, players do too. Now tell me why a big name FA would want to come to Charlotte when people wont even come to the games when they are winning?

[King Taharqa]

I know it can't happen but I have always wondered what would happen (local support, profitabilty, etc.) if Mark Cuban took over the Bobcats. I bet he would have that stadium full in no time.

I dont think Cuban would work in this market. He tends to be on the "liberal" side of things and likes to think outside of the box. That would be a hard sell here as we prefer our owners to be more reserved and "saintly" than perhaps he would wish to be. Not to mention he's not from here locally and would be seen as an outsider.

[Jbro]

I know it can't happen but I have always wondered what would happen (local support, profitabilty, etc.) if Mark Cuban took over the Bobcats. I bet he would have that stadium full in no time.

Pretty sad when Cuban does an interview on the local radio anytime they ask him to but Bob Johnson is nowhere to be found.

[Britneck]

I see what you're saying but it is completely different circumstances. Those teams have been around forever. Golden St. has Oakland and San Fran supporting them. Have you ever been to Sacramento or Oklahoma? There is nothing to do there. Plus that's the only pro team Oklahoma has ever had. It's basically like the Hurricanes in Raleigh. It works because that is all they have.

[rico6]

Jordan needs to take ownership.

He has the pieces for a playoff caliber team, in an excellent basketball state, he has NC roots, like a third of the roster is NC native.

He has alot going for him if he takes ownership, but on the other hand he has a lot to lose also.

But isn't that the same with any small market franchise?

[CatMan72]

Why are we assuming that losing Jordan would automatically mean Brown is out too? From the owners standpoint it's clear to see that Brown has turned this franchise around and from Brown's standpoint, he has allot invested in this team at the moment - doubt he would walk away at this point.

I would prefer to keep Jordan because... well... he's Jordan. When Charlotte does become a consistent contender, who better to lure big name talent to Charlotte than Jordan? Anyone remember that we drafted Kobe and he refused to come here? If Jordan had been at the helm of the Hornets at the time, we might have been able to reel him in.

LeBron worships the ground Jordan walks on... I'm not saying we're going to get LeBron but it wouldn't even be a discussion if Jordan wasn't in the mix. An owner doesn't need to make all the business decisions, or even most of them - Jordan does not have to be a great businessman - he can hire great businessmen to council him and help run the organization.

I say having Jordan as an owner would be an ace up our sleeve. It will always keep us in play for talent and we will continue to have the distinction of being the only minority-owned major league sports franchise in the USA - which is something to be very proud of by itself.

[CatMan72]

The Knicks are another organization that has an overwhelming losing record the past 10 years and one of the worst front offices in pro sports, yet manages to sell out almost all of its game. Now going to a Knicks game is alot more "glamourous" than going to see the Bobcats, but again this illustrates the "emotional attachment" factor being greater than just posting wins & losses. Look at OKC Thunder, not a winning season under their belt but their fans are rabid and sell out the games because they are hungry for basketball. and already have an emotional attachment to the team. Sacramento & Golden State arent considered winning franchises or even big market franchises for that matter, but have better attendance than the Bobcats. Some markets support their team no matter what because they have their cities name on their jerseys. Then you have markets like Charlotte's that have to like the owner and have a few winning seasons first before they support their team. This is why this isnt a great market for players & fans alike. Just like we see the lack of support, players do too. Now tell me why a big name FA would want to come to Charlotte when people wont even come to the games when they are winning?

You gotta realize, this market has already been burned once by an NBA franchise - so there is a large segment of people who refuse to get attached for fear of getting burned again. Then this new franchise comes to town and it's a bottom feeder. We lose a contender and replace it with a bottom-feeder. Added to that is the fact that NC is the Mecca of college basketball. Most people I know around here are more attached to their college team than any NBA or NFL team. Most of those folks are UNC fans and until this year they are used to being on top, so now you're going to ask them to support a lowly team like the Bobcats? not likely.

I think the Bobcats will need to string together a few winning seasons and a few playoff appearances before the majority of folks will tune in. No big name FA goes to Cleveland because it's such a happening place... they go there because LeBron is there and they want hardware. LeBron is there because he's an Ohio guy and he was drafted there. All it takes is one guy, one guy and it builds on itself.