Jordan, Bobcats should both benefit from marriage

	Michael Jordan's partial ownership of the Bobcats should go a long way to washing away the bitter taste left by the Hornets. Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images

Though it was denied at the time by anonymous league sources and ridiculed by bloggers, our May 25 report predicting that Michael Jordan would buy into the Charlotte Bobcats made as much sense then as it does today.

The franchise and the star need each other.

The franchise needs the local hero to come home because the Bobcats are irrelevant in their market. After the poisonous taste left by the NBA during its previously cynical existence in Charlotte (that led to their tragic escape to New Orleans and nomadic existence in Oklahoma City), the Bobcats have been unable to create a new identity of their own separate of the one left behind by Hornets owner George Shinn.

Jordan's persona trumps Shinn's. There isn't a market in the NBA that needed Jordan's presence more than Charlotte.

People are going to question Jordan's ability to operate an NBA front office after he was fired by Washington three years ago after failing to lead the Wizards to the playoffs. My guess is that he's spent this time evaluating that performance and seeking advice from NBA executives in order to reverse that negative association. Jordan wants back into the league in order to win championships, and I don't see him making the same mistakes twice.

He'll either retain Bernie Bickerstaff as GM or hire a new full-time GM to handle the daily work and bring the big decisions to his desk.

The bottom line is there is no downside to this move whatsoever. The Bobcats were being run on the cheap while creating no sense of buzz or hope in their city. Now they're being taken over by the league's biggest name who is hungry to prove himself and willing to put his reputation on the line. Ultimately this is going to be a victory for everyone.

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