RE: Positive & Negative Look At Bird's Franchise Efforts

["Maria Lyell" <marialyell@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I don't understand how the NBA could give Charlotte this team when they
could not market the last one. Was anyone else in the running?


John


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-celtics@igtc.com [mailto:owner-celtics@igtc.com]On Behalf Of
Way Of The Ray
Sent: Friday, December 20, 2002 4:29 AM
To: celtics@igtc.com
Subject: Positive & Negative Look At Bird's Franchise Efforts


>From Boston Sports Media Watch - http://bostonmedia.blogspot.com/

The one thing Jageler has been vocal about is the Bird/Belkin group not
getting the NBA franchise for his former hometown of Charlotte. Jags
says that the city was basically sold a bill of goods by having Larry
Bird go down there, get the city excited and then the NBA goes with the
Johnson group instead. Without Larry Bird's name there would be no arena
deal or NBA expansion team there.

Posted on Thu, Dec. 19, 2002

On Basketball | For NBA trailblazer, money talked loudly
By Stephen A. Smith
Inquirer Columnist



Robert L. Johnson, the billionaire founder of Black Entertainment
Television, was the logical choice all along for ownership of the
Charlotte franchise.


Staring in the faces of five NBA owners, knowing he was in competition
with a group led by the legendary Larry Bird, Black Entertainment
Television founder Robert L. Johnson walked to the negotiating table
with the following:

Fearlessness.

A belief that it was his time - an African American's time - to become a
majority owner of a professional sports franchise.

A financial portfolio worth more than $1.3 billion, and inside knowledge
that Bird's group was not truly ready to compete financially for
ownership of Charlotte's expansion franchise.

For those wondering how a black man known more for televising hip-hop
videos on BET beat out a 14-person group in which Bird was the marquee
name, the answer is simple: money.

"Essentially, Bob Johnson walked in there and reminded the committee
that this is a business deal," one league source extremely close to
negotiations told The Inquirer yesterday. "He reminded them that he was
a businessman. That he can build value and can invest in what it takes
to make things work. Then he basically said, 'Oh! By the way. Here [are]
my financial credentials.'

"Needless to say, there was not much else to say."

A man born in Mississippi and raised by a working-class family, a man
who took out a mortgage on his second home 22 years ago for $40,000 and
turned it into more than $2 billion, Johnson is now the first black to
own a majority stake in a major American professional sports team.

Isn't America great?

No doubt African Americans across the nation are celebrating.

They should be joined by everyone.

For years, minorities have attempted to gain ownership, but weren't
blessed with the financial means to do so.

Magic Johnson's 5 percent stake in the L.A. Lakers was given to him by
team owner Jerry Buss. Bill Cosby was meshed in with others to gain a
stake in the New Jersey Nets. Michael Jordan gained access to ownership
with the Washington Wizards only after Ted Leonsis, a minority owner,
brought Jordan in. And Isiah Thomas' bid to gain majority ownership of
the Toronto Raptors was squelched abruptly.

Until now, when a minority attempted to get a foot in the boardroom, the
overture came in the person of a big-name African American athlete. An
athlete who was willing to allow some group to use his name in return
for a stake.

That's exactly the design by the group containing Bird. White and as
illustrious a basketball name as Jordan and Johnson, Bird was to have a
10 percent stake in ownership of the Charlotte franchise if his group
had been approved.

Thing is, Bird partnered himself with a group that didn't have the
funds, according to sources very close to the negotiations.

>From day one, Bird's group appeared too eager to engage in a public
relations, smoke-and-mirrors campaign.

Bird went down to Charlotte to ingratiate himself with the community
shortly after the Hornets - Charlotte's original franchise - skipped
town for New Orleans. He did everything but have M.L. Carr - another
former player and proposed partner - wave pom-poms. Meanwhile, Bird's
group was negotiating hard to lower the NBA's $300-million price tag,
thinking Bird's name would parlay into leverage.

"From day one, the committee knew Bob Johnson was the guy," the source
familiar with the NBA decision said. "His financial portfolio was just
overwhelmingly impressive. He had everything together. Everything. He
didn't need to negotiate a price."

So, no matter how Bird's group looked to the NBA, the simple fact is,
Johnson looked better.

Bird's 14-member group couldn't get the $300 million asking price as
recently as days ago, according to the official who wished to remain
anonymous. Meanwhile, "Bob was saying, 'Who do you guys want me to sign
the check to?' " the source said.

He will make it out to the NBA. He should make it out to commissioner
David Stern and the Phoenix Suns' owner and committee chairman, Jerry
Colangelo.

Stern, after all, has been on a mission for years to make sure the
league beat every other major sport to landing the first African
American majority owner. And it was Colangelo - like Johnson, a graduate
of the University of Illinois - who befriended Johnson nearly 10 years
ago and championed his cause in the league.

Anyone with knowledge of the NBA knows that Johnson doesn't get in
without Stern and Colangelo.

And anyone with a respect for fairness and ethics should realize that it
was time for this to happen.

Johnson came to the table with credentials instead of his hand out. He
had the financial package to make this happen. And in the final
analysis, when prejudice, unfairness and the ever-so-popular Good Ol'
Boy network could have played a significant role, it didn't.

For years, the NBA's mantra has been "I love this game."

Now, more than ever, I know why!


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Contact staff writer Stephen A. Smith at 215-854-5846 or
ssmith@phillynews.com.
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