Michael Jordan is the best basketball player to have played the game of basketball. No doubt about that. And no one would even dare challenge that amid LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and the other crop of past and current NBA superstars.
Michael Jordan is Michael Jordan and the argument on who is the best basketball player the planet has seen stops there.
But as a businessman since retiring from basketball, Jordan has been questioned quite a lot especially on decisions that seems to be either unjustified or a bit of a deviation from the typical. He has obviously made some questionable business decisions that made him really look better in the basketball court than in the boardroom.
When he was an executive of the Washington Wizards, he made Kwame Brown the No. 1 NBA pick and his decision has been widely criticized. Since 2010, he has become the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets, back to its original name from being called the Charlotte Bobcats.
Until the past couple of years, the Hornets have been a perennial losing team in the NBA and it was only last year when it finally made it to the playoffs since Jordan assumed the helm of the organization.
Vindication for MJ
For turning the team around last year, Michael Jordan has been named “Business Person of the Year” by the Charlotte Business Journal
Michael became emotional when he received the award on January 20 and was almost in tears during his nine-minute acceptance speech, cites Yahoo! News from an AFP report.
He feels that the award has vindicated him after years of criticisms as the owner of Charlotte Hornets. He also said that he has received numerous awards as an NBA player but the award from the Charlotte Business Journal is different and special.
During his speech, Michael said that he has been criticized in a lot of different ways from a business standpoint, but he remained unperturbed. He said that he takes great pride in the ideas and concepts as well as the views that come out from the organization to build the type of basketball program that the city of Charlotte can really be proud of.
Promise remains
Jordan also said that he is keeping his promise to the organization and its fans that he will bring a winner out of the basketball team and that he is not turning back on his commitment to bringing multiple championships to the franchise.
Fred Whitfield, president and COO of Charlotte Hornets said that MJ was genuinely honored and humbled by the award, citing that the team owner is quite proud that he is building something for his home state and the prestigious business citation is really special to him.
Estee Portnoy, Michael’s long-time business manager, was also present during the awarding ceremony and called MJ’s speech very genuine and beautiful.