9:45am: The Hornets have put out a press release confirming that Jordan has reached an agreement to sell the majority share of the franchise to a group led by Plotkin and Schnall. According to Wojnarowski (Twitter link), the team is being valued at approximately $3 billion in the sale.
In addition to the names listed below, the new ownership group will include tech investor Ian Loring and several North Carolina natives, including recording artists J. Cole and Eric Church, per the Hornets.
The team added that Schnall is in the process of selling his minority stake in the Hawks, which will likely be completed within the next few weeks.
9:04am: Hornets owner Michael Jordan is selling his majority share of the franchise, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports that Jordan is in the process of finalizing a deal with a group led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall.
Plotkin is a current minority stakeholder in the Hornets, while Schnall held a minority share of the Hawks. They’ll become the new team governors in Charlotte once the sale is completed and approved by the NBA, says Wojnarowski, adding that an agreement is expected to be reached soon.
Jordan assumed majority control of the Hornets back in 2010, completing a deal that was based on a reported valuation of $275MM. While it’s not clear yet what he’ll sell for, Forbes estimated last October that the franchise was worth $1.7 billion, and those projections often undershoot actual sale prices.
Charlotte’s NBA franchise, which reentered the NBA as the expansion Bobcats in 2004 before being rebranded as the Hornets in 2014, made the playoffs just three times during Jordan’s tenure as majority owner and didn’t win a postseason series.
According to Wojnarowski, Jordan will remain involved with the Hornets, at least in the short term. He’ll continue to oversee basketball operations during the draft and the start in free agency in the coming weeks. Even after completing the sale, the six-time NBA champion is expected to retain a minority stake in the team, sources tell ESPN.
Word broke three months ago that Jordan was mulling the possibility of giving up control of the Hornets to a group led by Plotkin and Schnall. A story last month indicated that he may have been waiting until after the draft lottery to make a decision, since landing the No. 1 overall pick and the right to draft Victor Wembanyama would’ve increased the value of the franchise.
Charlotte didn’t win the draft lottery, but did come away with the next-best thing — the team controls the No. 2 pick, which could be used to draft a potential star like Scoot Henderson or Brandon Miller or as the centerpiece in a trade for an established veteran star. For now, there doesn’t appear to be traction on a trade involving the No. 2 pick, though that could change by the time the Hornets are on the clock next Thursday.
Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported yesterday that Charlotte is trying to bring Henderson and Miller back to town this coming Monday to meet with Jordan, adding that all signs point toward the club choosing between those two players if it keeps its lottery pick. The Hornets have kept the reps for Henderson and Miller apprised on the ownership situation, tweets Fischer.
Besides Plotkin and Schnall, the Hornets’ new ownership team will include Hornets minority owner Daniel Sundheim, who is part of the purchasing group, says Wojnarowski.
A source tells Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic (Twitter link) that private equity form Dyal HomeCourt Partners is also expected to be involved in the group. Dyal also has stakes in the Hawks and Kings and had one in the Suns before cashing out in February when Mat Ishbia bought the franchise, says Vorkunov.
It remains to be seen how the Hornets’ ownership change might affect the team on and off the court going forward — head coach Steve Clifford and president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak are among those in leadership roles whose futures could be impacted. For what it’s worth, Fischer notes (via Twitter) that Schnall was believed to be involved in basketball operations during his time as a Hawks minority owner.
Good he sucks as an owner!
How so? He took over an expansion team. How often do expansion teams have success? At least he got rid of the bobcats logo.
I mean. Out of 30 teams, the Hornets have been 25th in W/L since he bought the team. The only team that wasn’t run completely into the ground in that time below them is Orlando. And even that’s debatable. The Nets with their horrible trade with the Celtics? The Wizards? The Knicks, who haven’t been good until recently? The Sixers and the Process? All above Charlotte.
Financially, he’s been a decent owner. But not in terms of team performance.
Yes but you’re comparing the team to NBA teams that have existed for decades. It’s not a fair comparison. You should be comparing the Hornets to other new NBA teams in their first 30 years.
The Hornets are only better off than the Kings, Magic, Pistons, and Timberwolves during Jordan’s leadership. Only the Magic is comparable in that regard because we’re talking about the modern NBA, and New Orleans, a younger franchise, is quite a bit above them due to superior drafting. The Miami Heat, which came into being around the same time as the original Hornets, are second among all teams in the same span, behind only San Antonio, and tied with Golden State. The Hornets as a sports team has done poorly under Jordan’s leadership. And yeah, the Timberwolves have been worse over that time. But saying you’re a better owner than Glenn Taylor is almost a self-own.
New Orleans are the old Hornets. They didn’t have to deal with the same type of standards as an expansion. Expansion teams aren’t allowed to get a top draft pick for a certain amount of years. New Orleans didn’t have to experience that. They are not comparable.
That doesn’t really change the fact that the Hornets/Bobcats were out of that window at the time of Jordan’s ownership and did worse by record than New Orleans over the same period, and didn’t draft well at all. LaMelo Ball and Kemba Walker were the best first round picks of the Hornets under Jordan. Tobias Harris, SGA, and Jalen Duren too, I guess, but they foolishly traded all of them instantly. And they didn’t have a history of good trades or signings despite a more attractive locale.
Even Sacramento did better than that, and they’re infamous for being crap at drafting. Cousins, Fox, Haliburton, Murray since 2010. Even Davion Mitchell if you want to stretch it a bit. And that doesn’t count Isaiah Thomas, Zack Collins, or Hassan Whiteside, who were second rounders or flipped immediately.
He’s the Ted Williams of legendary players turned owners.
Biden gonna block it
I’m sad I wont be able to talk about the annual biggest winner every year the Forbes team valuation estimates come out. Never forget how quickly MJ turned the minuscule he amount he paid into billions of dollars lol
Gotta sell so he can come back out of retirement, right?
He’s the greatest player of all time but being an owner didn’t work
I would have paid more to get him out before the draft.
From $150MM to $3 Billion. I think it worked out alright.
NBA team is valued at $3 billion as Michael Jordan sells majority stake. Jordan bought franchise for $180 million in 2010.
SUCKERS ………
Jordan was the worst evaluator of talent ever. Nobody missed as much as he did. Plus Hornets never tried to develop their picks. Long overdue for him to get out. Charlotte should throw a block party …..