Mj Planning Exit Strategy If Team Doesn't Turn It Around

[King Taharqa]

MrTouchdown: "No Mr. Jordan I dont have any money to pay for it. But if you change us to the Hornets I can offer sexual favors! Shinn used to accept them all the time! C'mon Mike puhleeeeeeze?!?!?!"

[4Corners]

LA is a horrible sports town. Sadly, LA is similar to Charlotte sports wise. Had a professional team move, a lot of transplants living there, spread out city, etc. Trolling aside KT, that's what I've been trying to explain to you. The love for the Bobcats in this city is not here bro. They've been here what? 7 years? 8 years? how much longer is it going to take for the owners to realize that the city does not support the team. There are people like myself who are out of college with jobs. We are the target demographics for people who need to to invest in the team by purchasing season tickets/merchandise/going to games and buying $9 beers.

I speak for a lot of people, not everyone, that the interest isn't there. I'm sure winning would help create more buzz for the team but is that ever going to happen?

1. One awful, embarrassing playoff appearnce.

2. One NBA all-star EVER (who I'm pretty sure didn't play more than 4 mins in the game)

3. Maybe the worst drafting team in the NBA the past decade.

4. Owner changes.

5. After Silas is fired, will be looking for what their 6th HC in 8 seasons?

Come on man! Quit trolling and try to look at this like a 17 year old boy and have a convo like an adult! Why would anyone want to invest or partake in this franchise?

[4Corners]

MrTouchdown: "No Mr. Jordan I dont have any money to pay for it. But if you change us to the Hornets I can offer sexual favors! Shinn used to accept them all the time! C'mon Mike puhleeeeeeze?!?!?!"

Meh. Do you spend your welfare/child support money on bobcat tickets?

Because if you do, I'll give you the free tickets I turn down 3-4 times a year. I want your babies to be able to eat bro!

Stop trolling and lets have a discussion like men not some 17 year old punks hiding behind a computer screen.

[King Taharqa]

You live in Huntersville and are too scared to drive thru half the city after dark. What do you possibly know about Charlotte? Just look at your jokes. You can tell you grew up very sheltered and not around a diverse group of people. Instead of begging the Bobcats, why not convince the New Orleans Hornets to come back home? Or convince the people in NO how manly purple and teal are?

[4Corners]

You live in Huntersville and are too scared to drive thru half the city after dark. What do you possibly know about Charlotte? Just look at your jokes. You can tell you grew up very sheltered and not around a diverse group of people. Instead of begging the Bobcats, why not convince the New Orleans Hornets to come back home? Or convince the people in NO how manly purple and teal are?

I'll admit, there are certain parts of the city that a person like me has no business driving through after 5PM.

As I stated before, I grew up in Cotswold and went to the schools in that area. You act like Huntersville/Cornelius are in fuging Minnesota or somewhere.

Sports are something that should bring us together, not push us apart.

[Kevin Greene]

LA is a horrible sports town. Sadly, LA is similar to Charlotte sports wise. Had a professional team move, a lot of transplants living there,

New York is a terrible sports town. The Brooklyn Dodgers and baseball NY Giants left town.

All these are terrible sports towns:

Teams making more significant moves, in chronological order

• Decatur Staleys: to Chicago in 1921 (renamed the Chicago Bears in 1922)
  
• Toledo Maroons: to Kenosha, Wisconsin in 1924 [1]
  
• Cleveland Bulldogs: to Detroit as the Wolverines in 1928
  
• Pottsville Maroons: to Boston as the Bulldogs in 1929
  
• Dayton Triangles: to Brooklyn as the Dodgers in 1930 (renamed Brooklyn Tigers in 1944)
  
• Portsmouth Spartans: to Detroit as the Lions in 1934^[2][3][4]
  
• Boston Redskins: to Washington, D.C. in 1937
  
• Cleveland Rams: to Los Angeles in 1946
  
• Chicago Cardinals: to St. Louis in 1960
  
• Los Angeles Chargers: to San Diego in 1961 while in the American Football League (AFL)
  
• Dallas Texans: to Kansas City, Missouri as the Kansas City Chiefs in 1963 while in the AFL
  
• Oakland Raiders: to Los Angeles in 1982
  
• Baltimore Colts: to Indianapolis in 1984
  
• St. Louis Cardinals: to Tempe, Arizona as the Phoenix Cardinals in 1988 and became the Arizona Cardinals in 1994
  
• Los Angeles Rams: to St. Louis in 1995
  
• Los Angeles Raiders: back to Oakland in 1995
  
• Houston Oilers: temporarily to Memphis in 1997 as the Tennessee Oilers and permanently to Nashville in 1998 (renamed Tennessee Titans in 1999)
  

This is pure nonsense.

[King Taharqa]

Cute Rex Chapman Avy. I remember when he was in the slam dunk contest as a Hornet 20 years ago. I bet if we brought him out of retirement right now and had him give us minutes, attendance would double, merchandise would all be on backorder, it'd be 91 all over again baby! Maybe we can even get Mr. Curry to put down the mic and headset and lace em up for some long range 3s. All our games would sellout. Kevin Greene, let us get Coach Rambis AGAIN! LOL. Tell him throw on some glasses and bang in the paint for us. It would bring joy to the hearts of all in Charlotte. Kendall Gill fresh off the NBATV set, put him out there we'd be bigger than the Thunder! Where is Johnny Newman?

[cbarrier90]

Look, KT, I don't know what agenda you have, but at least give a logical argument as to why the name shouldn't be changed. Mr. TD presents his case and you simply make fun of him for wanting to bring back something he was a big fan of back in the day.

People simply want the name of the franchise changed and you act as though it's some kind of complete mutiny against everything good and right about the world.

Hate to break it to you, but BoJo was a terrible owner, too...

[ckad79]

It doesn't matter who owns this franchise, if the NBA as a system, makes it difficult for small market teams to compete, you're going to have little interest from investors.

Fact is, the NBA is historically popular in small markets when there is no competition from the three other pro sports. Case in point, the Thunder are a bit because well, there isn't much else to do in Oklahoma City. The same can be said for Salt Lake City and the Jazz and the Spurs in San Antonio. Once another force comes into the mix, like the Panthers in Charlotte, basketball suffers.

I know winning has a lot to do with it, but consider this... even when the Hornets were at the height of their popularity, and had Zo and Mourning, LJ's $85 million dollar deal almost bankrupted Shinn. When it came time to resign Zo.. there was no way!! This was before Charlotte had the Panthers too, when it was the ONLY show in town and the the Hornets were extremely profitable and selling out every game.

In hindsight, it would have been interesting to see how the Hornets would have done with a better arena. Fact is, the old Coliseum did lack a lot of luxury boxes and club seats, at the time, and the team did suffer. If had them, at the height of this popularity, we may be having a different discussion. Without pointing fingers, the lack of amenities at the old coliseum was much the fault of Shinn, for not realizing how fast the NBA would grow and creating a home that could grow with it.

Still, the NBA's system isn't kind to small market clubs. Michael was right when he came out this fall, complaining about the current system to the press. I agree with him 100%. AND it's also why I feel that you aren't going to find a handful of owners wanting to invest in a city like Charlotte. Fact is, the Panthers are here, so the loyalty for the club isn't 100%. Second, without loyalty you have to create a winner and the odds aren't stacked in your favor.

Granted, you can always draft a star college player, but once they commit to their rookie contract, they jet. A lot of these young stars aren't into playing for places like Sacramento or Utah, but instead Hollywood, Miami, New York, etc. Granted, every once in awhile you'll find a soft-spoken guy but an all-star player like Durant who fortunately for a smaller city like Oklahoma City, doesn't see their setup as a negative. Sadly, Durant isn't the norm and many smaller market clubs struggle to keep talent.

[NanuqoftheNorth]

cakd79's post above could be the best I've read on this issue.

MJ is going to have to pull out all the stops and become creative to drive revenue to the bottom line.

The Charlotte market is a tougher sell for the NBA now that the Panthers are in town. Still, the Charlotte metropolitan area is a lot larger than it was in the 80's and it has a large middle class so it isn't an impossible situation.

The most important thing this team can do in the short term is become entertaining and somewhat competitive. I really hope we get Davis.

Ultimately for this franchise to succeed and flourish MJ is going to have to figure out how to get the tens of thousands of former fans that have not attended an NBA game in years to return to the fold. A competent Marketing Director is literally worth his/her weight in gold and should have no problem figuring out what needs to be done.

[King Taharqa]

Tell those tens of thousands of non-fans keep your broke disloyal asses at home. The Bobs dont need fairweather fans who couldnt spot Kobe out of a lineup. Stick to Nascar and college bball, leave the NBA to the big boys whine and cheesers.