Why is Jordan such a loser as an NBA owner?
Th e normall y proactive Raptors have been mysteriousl y quiet lately
The theme is clear throughout the rather remarkable documentary, The Last Dance: There has probably never been a professional athlete more ruthless, more consumed with victory and personal success than Michael Jordan.
Which begs a question all its own: How do you explain the Charlotte Hornets, the NBA team Jordan has been majority owner of for the past 10 seasons?
How does someone so obsessed with winning end up as owner of a perennial bottom-feeder?
The Hornets, formerly the Bobcats, have not won a playoff round in Jordan’s time as owner. They have made the playoffs only twice. The best player they’ve drafted over the years, Canadian Shai Gilgeous- Alexander, was flipped immediately to the Clippers in one of those draft-night deals. When they had an early draft pick, they passed on Bradley Beal and Damian Lillard and chose Michael Kidd- Gilchrist.
It has been that kind of franchise under Jordan. The whole era has been nothing short of disastrous.
The Hornets are 28th in the NBA in attendance after finishing 23rd a year ago. The only real win during Jordan’s time in Charlotte has come from franchise value. He bought the team for $175 million US and now it has been valued at $ 1.5 billion. Maybe that’s the only win that matters here.
THIS AND THAT
If I’m putting together an all- time Maple Leafs team, without restrictions, I’d do the Team Canada thing and pick eight centres: Dave Keon, Syl Apps, Ted Kennedy, Darryl Sittler, Mats Sundin, Doug Gilmour, Auston Matthews and Red Kelly. All of them Hall of Famers except for Matthews. My wingers: Frank Mahovlich, Rick Vaive, Wendel Clark, Charlie
Conacher ... The best way to judge a general manager: How many games do you win? So far, it’s Lou Lamoriello 83, Kyle Dubas 82 in two seasons since major changes were made with the Maple Leafs. Lamoriello’s Islanders have won a playoff round. Dubas’ Maple Leafs have yet to accomplish that. Short term, it’s Lamoriello 1, Dubas 0 ... Paul Mcfarland earned his reputation as something of a power- play guru when the Florida Panthers went from 21st in the NHL to second, with basically the same players. When the Leafs hired him to assist Mike Babcock — Babcock will tell you he hired him — the Leafs power play did not match the talent on the ice. Mcfarland figured a return to junior hockey as a head coach would increase his chances of becoming a head coach in the NHL one day. The reality: More AHL head coaches and NHL assistant coaches get head coaching jobs in the NHL. Few junior coaches succeed in the NHL without steps in between. Won’t be surprised at all if Sheldon Keefe adds longtime assistant A. J. Maclean to the Leafs staff. He worked alongside Keefe in Sault Ste. Marie and with the Marlies.
HEAR AND THERE
This is not in any way a defence of Brandon Leipsic — there is no defence — getting caught in an immature, improper, misogynistic chat with his pals, which almost certainly will cost him his NHL career. When you’re a borderline player, how idiotic of you to get involved with such behaviour. But I do wonder, in today’s world with multiple social media outlets and inappropriate texting and conversation so prominent, if you confiscated the phones of every player in professional sports, male and female, and searched for troubling dialogue, you might wind up having to suspend a large percentage of kids under the age of 30 ... A confession: There is a scene in the comedy Billy Madison in which actor Steve Buscemi has a note on his fridge that reads: “People to Kill.” And then he lists a few names. Some of my friends thought that bit was funny. We exchanged some People to Kill lists of our own. It was private harmless fun. Unless, of course, someone else saw it. And then, that changes everything ... Can’t imagine any team in the NHL will want Leipsic. He’s a run- of- the- mill player. Why bring in a 20th man for your roster who comes with this kind of baggage? But this much we do know based on history: If Leipsic were a significant player, the Washington Capitals would have handled this differently. That’s the rub here. If you’re Auston Matthews and you get in trouble in Arizona in the summer, it goes away rather quickly. Years back, the Red Wings did everything to keep Bob Probert on their roster, no matter what trouble he got into. Others were let go in Detroit. Never the late Probert. He was too valuable.
SCENE AND HEARD
When the NHL stopped playing, the Philadelphia Flyers were just about the hottest team in hockey That’s a pretty good group, put together mostly by Ron Hextall, the former general manager. It would make sense for one of the waffling franchises to take a run at the methodical Hextall as GM ... New Jersey won’t find a better person than Tom Fitzgerald to be their GM. He’s interim now. The Devils are interviewing others ... An old rumour now circulating again: Are the Arizona Coyotes considering bringing in Peter Chiarelli in a senior position above GM John Chayka? ... One trouble the CFL has in selling the federal government on bailout money: If you’ve ever been in a business meeting with David Braley, owner of the B.C. Lions, previous interim commissioner and former owner in Hamilton and Toronto, he won’t hesitate to tell you how much real estate he owns and impress upon you how wealthy he is ... This is how long we’ve been home: We’re watching Jeopardy reruns now and we’re actually caring about an Alex Kerfoot conference call. OK, so l lied. We’re not really caring about the Kerfoot call ... Kawhi Leonard wanted Paul George playing alongside him in Los Angeles rather than stay with Pascal Siakam in Toronto. The stats this season, as Siakam still grows into the player he is going to be: Siakam is outscoring George, out- rebounding him, and shooting at a higher percentage ... The normally proactive Raptors have been so quiet without games being played. No Kyle Lowry interviews. No Siakam calls. No Marc Gasol. Hardly any visibility. Weird.
The Bobby Orr goal is in the news again. It happened 50 years ago. Context is often lost on the meaning of the score. The dive was amazing. Maybe the best hockey photo ever. And it led to a statue being built. But the series Boston had with the expansion St. Louis Blues was hugely one- sided. The score over the first three games was 16- 4 for the Bruins. St. Louis had lost its previous 11 Cup final games, the only 11 it had played. The series had no drama except for Orr’s overtime winner, which really, for him, was a rather basic goal that has taken on larger meaning because of the photo ... Also 50 years ago: The New York Knicks won the NBA title ... In Ahmad Rashad’s wedding party many years back: O. J. Simpson and Bill Cosby ... I don’t own a team jersey, but if I did, I’d get a red Team Canada sweater with ‘ Wickenheiser’ on the back ... If the quarantine regulations remain as they are now, the Blue Jays won’t be able to play home games in Toronto this season ... A diehard Leafs fan brought this up: What if hockey returns and the games are played in empty arenas and somehow Toronto wins the Cup. And there’s no parade. How odd will that feel? ... Makes me just a little uncomfortable that the UFC went ahead with its show on Saturday night after fighter Ronaldo Souza was scratched for testing positive for COVID-19 ... Department of Dumb Ideas: Mike Tyson talking of a comeback — 15 years after not coming out for the seventh round against somebody named Kevin Mcbride ... When I wrote Lanny Mcdonald’s autobiography in 1987, I autographed a copy to my mom. It read: “To mom, who I know won’t read this book.” Turns out, she never even read the dedication. Her grandson discovered it a few years before she died. She laughed about it. My mom was a voracious reader. She just happened to have zero interest in hockey. The book was a best- seller. Wherever you are, wherever your moms are today, Happy Mother’s Day one and all. Seems to mean more than ever right now ... Happy birthday to Steve Yzerman ( 55), Gaetan Boucher ( 62), Norm Rumack ( 65), Jerome Williams ( 47), Ryan Getzlaf (35), Tony Twist (52), Samuel Dalembert (39), Doug Christie (50), Calvin Murphy (72), Shawn O’sullivan ( 58) and Tito Santana (67) ... And hey, whatever became of Marco Scutaro?