George Shinn lost his chance to be the man who brought Michael Jordan back to the NBA when the retired Chicago Bulls great broke off negotiations to buy half-interest in the Charlotte Hornets.
In a statement released by his agent early yesterday, Jordan said he withdrew from negotiations not because of price, but because of control. In fact, the five-time NBA Most Valuable Player said he had offered to buy 100 percent of the Hornets, but was rejected.
"Due to my competitive nature and my desire to be actively involved in all aspects of ownership, the issue of control became paramount to me," Jordan said. "Although George was willing to let me manage basketball operations, he was not willing to yield decision-making authority in other major business areas."
Shinn had estimated the market value of the Hornets at $160 million. For the amount of money he would spend buying into the Hornets, Jordan said he "could not become comfortable without having ultimate decision-making authority."
Shinn sought to bring in Jordan as a partner at the request of NBA commissioner David Stern and after suffering several public relations problems in recent years.
CLIPPERS: The NBA Board of Governors on Friday unanimously ratified the team's request to play all its home games at the new Staples Center starting next season.
Lottery chances
The 1999 NBA draft lottery will beheld May 22 for the June 30 draft. After tiebreakers were set Friday, here are the team's odds of receiving the first pick:
Team ---------- Rec. ---------- Odds in 1,000
y-Grizzlies ---- 8-42 ------------ 250
Clippers -------- 9-41 ------------ 200
Bulls ------------- 13-37 ----------- 157
x-Raptors ------ 14-36 ----------- 120
T'wolves ------- 16-34 ----------- 89
Wizards -------- 18-32 ----------- 64
z-Celtics -------- 19-31 ------------ 37
v-Suns ----------- 19-31 ----------- 36
Warriors -------- 21-29 ----------- 18
Cavaliers ------- 22-28 ------------ 11
Raptors --------- 23-27 ------------ 7
SuperSonics -- 25-25 ----------- 6
Hornets ---------- 26-24 ---------- 5
v-from Mavericks
w-from Nets
x-from Nuggets
y-may convey pick to Detroit
z-Cleveland has the option to receive pick, unless in top 3
Pub Date: 5/09/99