Bob Johnson, do we really want him as our owner?

[BIGCatBobcat]

I was flipping channels last night and came across Bob Johnson being interviewed on BET. He came across very, very poorly. I am not a democrat, nor an African American, I am only concerned with Bob as owner of my hometown basketball team, but he has made himself into much more. He is the first black billionaire if I'm not mistaken, he's got to have a huge voice in the black community because of that alone. He's given a lot of money to the Democrats so I'm sure he has their ear when he wants it. He said, and I found this to be the most offensive, when he was being pressed about his blatant dislike for Barack Obama, "I shook the man's hand, I had a fundraiser, gave him some money, $200,000, I'd like you to show me another African-American that's done the same..." and he sort of trailed off.

My issue is not with his politics, who he supports or votes for, what he thinks about any of that. He's the owner of the one team I am most involved in. Bob is definitely more involved with everything and anything but the Charlotte Bobcats. I know there aren't many owners like Mark Cuban, well, there is no other owner like Mark Cuban. I want a guy that will at least show up once or twice a year. He's been hitting the campaign trail and talking to every CNN, MSNBC, Fox News that would hear him, and he's said some seriously rude stuff.

I knew coming in we'd have an owner that was not a Charlotte guy. The ML Carr group, that included Larry Bird, was the same as ol' Bob. They just wanted to own an NBA team and Stern was only opening up shop in our fine city. I get that. Bob is not a basketball guy. He's an African-American community leader and basketball is huge in the black community, he wanted in and he seems to just want to be the first black everything. First all-black TV station, first black billionaire, first black majority owner of an NBA team(or any major sports league team, for that matter).

I'd never heard of the guy before he became our owner. I've been reading up on him a little and the more I see the more I don't like. He likes to make demands on the African-American community. Bob is not the best speaker, as anyone who has seen him address the crowd at TWC Arena can attest to. He sort of flies off at the mouth, most recently in the direction of Obama, making fun of his reported drug use, then apologizing, then saying he'll never be the candidate, then when he did become the candidate calling for the Black Caucus to pressure him to have Hillary Clinton as VP candidate, then when asked about it last night defending himself by saying who else has raised as much money as I have in the black community for Barack?

This is not about his politics, or race. The good-ol-boys around here have made enough of race, true Bob has preferred black employees but how is that offensive? The ticket takers and ushers at BOA Stadium are probably a higher percentage black than white, and the Richardsons are white, who cares about race in this day and time except for very ignorant people?

He's not here. He doesn't seem to have time for this team. He thought it was like a drink machine. You set it up, pay the guy to put the sodas in and collect the quarters. He is on the boards of so many corporations and the new political stuff bothers me. Don't get me wrong, I respect him, I think it's great for him to be involved in the black community as well as the politics that effect us all. I just want an owner that cares about basketball, what we're putting on the court, what kind of character they have off the court, and most importantly that's here. I haven't even touched on his ridiculous comments at the end of last season.

Do yourself a favor before you add comment, look up his stuff on You Tube. He is very ballsy, very demanding. If he gave 5% of the passion to basketball that he does to his political views we'd be one of the most important teams in the league, simply because of him. Bob wields such power in the economic, social and political community, why can't he give our Bobcats the time of day?

[dnbman]

I kind of understand your comments, most especially in criticizing his possible lack of passion for the team.

I guess I'm wondering what the realistic alternative is. Owners are owners. With few exceptions, their primary motivation is to make money or use the franchise as a symbol of their wealth. There aren't many teams where I even know who the owner is, let alone how they influence the team.

Being that I live outside of Charlotte, the issue is probably less significant to me, as I don't have a stake in the community. However, as a fan of the team, I'm not overly concerned who owns the team as long as good basketball decisions are being made. Obviously, you'd love to have a vocal owner who supports the team and puts a positive face to the franchise. However, I'm happy enough to have an owner who chooses smart people to run the organization and gets out of the way. Johnson seems to be that kind of owner.

[Scottley Crue]

I can see where you're coming from on this. On occasion, Bob can say some things that probably would have been better not to say. I'd prefer he not do that, but you've got to take the good with the bad.

One thing I'd say is just because he's not in front of the camera or sitting courtside at every game does not mean he's doing nothing for the team. They got on that "Gameday" presentation from ESPN last year due to him, if I remember correctly. Would it be better if he acted like Mark Cuban? That's a matter of personal preference.

Aside from that, the alternative was the Larry Bird/Steve Belkin group. Bird, in part, put together the Indiana teams that seemed to spend equal amounts of time in legal court as on the basketball court. Steve Belkin took his other owners to court over the Joe Johnson contract, saying it was too much to spend. Combined, that's not something I want out of owership. In my mind, hindsight being 20/20, Bob's not so bad compared to the other finalist.

In the end, I agree with dnbman...as long as he cuts the checks and lets basketball people do basketball things, I'm quite alright with it. If I see him, fine. If not, fine. Again, just a personal preference.

[Dunk]

He's entitled to his own opinion on politics. I won't hold that against him. One thing he probably should understand that, as a business owner and a high profile person, the more you speak out, the more you risk alienating your customers. I would go about that with some degree of caution.

As an owner, do I think he's been good? No. We finally got a decent TV deal last year. I still don't think he's put that right people in place to put the best product possible on the floor. Would it help if he was in CLT working on this full-time? Absolutely.

[davcbow]

I agree with all your opinions, but he is the owner so until he sells his share of the team to someone else it dont matter what he does in his eyes is the feeling I get....:cool:

[BIGCatBobcat]

I agree with all your opinions, but he is the owner so until he sells his share of the team to someone else it dont matter what he does in his eyes is the feeling I get....:cool:

I agree we are stuck with him. He did, when he started the team, talk about how he wants character guys. He hired a whole regime to start things out and now almost everyone is gone. If you're getting rid of the guys at the top, that has to come straight from Bob. I don't want Cuban. I think he's an obnoxious ass. I don't think the owner needs to be at every game, every home game, I don' think there is a quota on attendance. Do you guys realize we have 2 of the biggest names on the planet as part of our ownership group? Bob Johnson may not be on everyone's mind but he's a big deal. MJ is the single biggest athlete ever, although soon to be rivaled by Tiger. Between those 2, we should be at the forefront of the NBA. Bob should be bringing the Clinton's to games. MJ should be inviting his tremendously rich bookies. I don't question the character or views, just the motive and the dedication for both of these guys. My guess is Bob will sell out within 5 years, then where will our franchise be?

[davcbow]

I agree we are stuck with him. He did, when he started the team, talk about how he wants character guys. He hired a whole regime to start things out and now almost everyone is gone. If you're getting rid of the guys at the top, that has to come straight from Bob. I don't want Cuban. I think he's an obnoxious ass. I don't think the owner needs to be at every game, every home game, I don' think there is a quota on attendance. Do you guys realize we have 2 of the biggest names on the planet as part of our ownership group? Bob Johnson may not be on everyone's mind but he's a big deal. MJ is the single biggest athlete ever, although soon to be rivaled by Tiger. Between those 2, we should be at the forefront of the NBA. Bob should be bringing the Clinton's to games. MJ should be inviting his tremendously rich bookies. I don't question the character or views, just the motive and the dedication for both of these guys. My guess is Bob will sell out within 5 years, then where will our franchise be?

Maybe Bob will sell out to Tiger......:biggrin:

[BIGCatBobcat]

Is Bob hurting rather than helping?

I saw him on tv last night and I just said to myself "Is this really the owner of the Bobcats?"

[davcbow]

Is Bob hurting rather than helping?

I saw him on tv last night and I just said to myself "Is this really the owner of the Bobcats?"

Well big business is just that big business, he probably uses the Bobcats as a big tax write off each year when his real money comes from other places such as BET.....:cool:

[Mustachio]

He's entitled to his own opinion on politics. I won't hold that against him. One thing he probably should understand that, as a business owner and a high profile person, the more you speak out, the more you risk alienating your customers. I would go about that with some degree of caution.

As an owner, do I think he's been good? No. We finally got a decent TV deal last year. I still don't think he's put that right people in place to put the best product possible on the floor. Would it help if he was in CLT working on this full-time? Absolutely.

good post.

like Jordan always said. "Republicans buy shoes too". Regardless of what you think of him as a person, as a business man its not very smart to alienate an entire half of a population. but hes kept it away from the court mostly so its hard to call him out for speaking what he believes in. Just maybe he should take into account that "Republicans buy tickets too"

[MattD]

he always complains... he did in dc and he just started to in charlotte. he will continue

and you dont have a choice whether he owns the team or not so, as long as there in charlotte and he foots the bills as we lose money, yes we want him

[Ghost Kat]

Bob Johnson has been put on Notice by me...

He didn't support Barack Obama
:mad:

As a Business man....I hate BET. It's the worse thing for black people since the jerry curl.

[ziggy]

Bob Johnson has been put on Notice by me...
I hate BET. It's the worse thing for black people since the jerry curl.

I second that!

[BIGCatBobcat]

I can't speak to BET, never really watched it, I'm not black either so I don't know how it effects black people, but I can say flipping through the channels at about 3am sure is interesting. How much of someone's ass can you show on tv? Or can you show the whole thing except the crack or something? For that matter when could you start saying "shit" on basic cable?

I worded it incorrectly on the subject line. We have no choice in the matter of course, it's more of a preferance want, or how satisfied are you? What do you think of the man? Along those lines. That thing on BET that night, wow I have seen some BET, caught my eye because it was him, I stayed for most of the interview because he was ruffling my feathers a bit. Very aggresive toward the interviewer, very proud of himself. Is he officially Hillary's spokesperson?

Sidenote: there were no and I mean no good looking people at the DNC. I'm tremendously shallow, I know but the Obama speech they would show the crowd and I didnt see a single attractive person. The RNC will have at least one: Palin.

[TheBeagle]

Very intriguing discussions going on! My context on the discussion is this:

I didn't see or hear any of the Bob interview. I haven't even heard anything about it, or would never have heard about it if not for BCP. Now, I'm so disillusioned with politics and the future of the USA, I really could care less what anyone has to say about the upcoming election and national politics writ large. Nothing offended me, from what has been posted here, of what Bob said. Not having seen the interview (youtube doesn't have it), I can't speak to his "attitude," but I can't imagine it making any difference. Talking politics is every person's right, and that's all he seems to have done here; no harm, no foul for me at least.

In the bigger picture, I think I'm warming up to Bob as our owner, that is, the man who funds the team. He's illustrated he's not a tightwad when it comes to paying players going back to last offseason. He doesn't seem to meddle in affairs, leaving it to MJ and Rod (and now coach). He shows up quite frequently (at least 7 games I saw him at last year out of the 25 or so I went to), so I don't think it's fair to criticize him for him not showing up to games. Whether or not he is competent as an owner, I guess that's to be determined and is pretty much attatched to MJ's job performance. I think he's got a hell of an arena, staffed with friendly, jovial employees that make me feel at home and can't seem to do enough for me and it was like that before I was a ST holder. Compared to other arenas and other sports, the concessions are well-priced. They have good ticket promotions. Though the upper bowl (maybe the lower bowl also) had a slight price hike, I think prices are still quite reasonable. I have no other team to compare it to, but as a single, parttime worker/student, editor/writer, layabout, my 2 seats are well worth the price and don't come close to hurting my bank account at all.

He is a terrible public speaker for sure, as BigCat points out in his initial post. The way he rambles and doesn't really seem to have any point to what he says is a sort of gauche humor if there's such a thing: it's both awkward/uncomfortable, but funny for that very reason: I just chalk it up to Bob being Bob.

The thing that most irritated me is when he called out local businesses toward the end of the season in April, complaining that they weren't giving enough money and investing in the team, when so many of the businesses (Wachovia) that have supported the team are getting sliced in diced economically. There was no excuse for that, and if he pulls something like that again, this team has no chance at lasting here I don't think. If he wants to make calls to local CEOs and COOs and try to schmooze, great; but, to call them out in the paper is tacky and tactless to the extreme.

So after all this, what do we have? He ruffles feathers when he talks about things extraneous to the actual Bobcats product on the court. As far as the on-court product and the arena experience, things of which are of ultimate importance to any fan, I have few complaints, and think it could be much worse (George Shinn, Donald Sterling, Hawks owner, Paul Brown, Al Davis, the Bennett guy, etc.)

Do we really want him as our owner? Sure. Is there a realistic better alternative?

[Michael Thompson]

Obviously I can't be totally objective when it comes to a thread about my employer, so I'll limit my comments to a few verifiable facts that are only intended to help frame this discussion a little. Much research has been conducted on what makes the owner of a professional sports franchise liked or disliked by the fans of his/her particular team. Rightly or wrongly, winning percentage seems to weigh heavily on those perceptions, as does personal reputation and community activism. And while no two franchises are the same (the notion that an "average" franchise is operating somewhere sounds reasonable but doesn't actually exist), the single most important factor that seems to affect a fan base's perception of their particular owner, no matter what the market size or circumstances surrounding the team, is his/her willingness to spend the money necessary to put a winning product on the court/field.

Last summer, Mr. Johnson committed to long-term contracts with Gerald and Matt. This summer he lured one of the best coaches in the world to Charlotte, and locked-up Emeka to a long-term contract. The result of these moves (hiring Coach Brown notwithstanding) now puts us, I believe, actually closer to the luxury tax threshold than we are to the cap number. And with 4 first round picks (and their guaranteed multi-year contracts) added to this roster in the past 3 years, we can all see to exactly what level Mr. Johnson's investment in the basketball product has been.

I'm still relatively new to the organization, so I don't know all the history with regards to spending. But I do know that expansion franchises are subject to different cap rules in their first couple of years and we're just barely out of that time frame.

Sharing opinions are what these forums are for, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to come on here and read all of yours. I hope this discussion continues because your feedback often provides me with thoughts and ideas on what we can do to improve things. I just wanted to provide something of a fact-based framework for more opinions to develop from.

[spectre]

But see, it doesn't matter that Bob Johnson is paying close to 64 million for a team that hasn't even made the playoffs yet...hasn't let ANY of our draft picks leave in FA...paid big money for what's probably one of the top 5-7 SGs in the game nor that he's kept ticket prices at the lowest level in the league. What's truly important is that he kisses everyone's collective butt and shops at the local Wal Mart.

And yeah, that was sarcasm. :cool:

He's made mistakes, but he's seemed very willing to take a step back and correct them. If you want to see some really crappy owners look at LAC, SAC and ATL just to name a few. Better yet, remember what used to be in Charlotte.

[chabber]

I have no problem with Bob Johnson. As long as we can get a winner on the court soon you'll continue to get my money.

[bfer]

Guys, I dont care who the owner is but someone who gets quality players. I dont care what he does or says (within reason) as long as long as he is dedicated to putting a winning products on the floor. who cares who he votes for or his past businesses.

[Scottley Crue]

But see, it doesn't matter that Bob Johnson is paying close to 64 million for a team that hasn't even made the playoffs yet...hasn't let ANY of our draft picks leave in FA...paid big money for what's probably one of the top 5-7 SGs in the game nor that he's kept ticket prices at the lowest level in the league. What's truly important is that he kisses everyone's collective butt and shops at the local Wal Mart.

And yeah, that was sarcasm. :cool:

He's made mistakes, but he's seemed very willing to take a step back and correct them. If you want to see some really crappy owners look at LAC, SAC and ATL just to name a few. Better yet, remember what used to be in Charlotte.
Dear Lord, you could not be more on point with that. In the circles of most media in this town, this is undoubtedly the mindset. Everything positive Bob (and the Bobcats) does either doesn't matter or didn't happen, but let one tiny thing they don't like happen (and it WILL be little and you WILL know they didn't like it) and he and the Bobcats are an affront to all that is civil in this world. Does he absolutely have to be from here for it all to be Ok? Geroge Shinn came from Kannapolis...how'd that work out?

Like you said, he's made mistakes, but seems very willing to correct them. There's people in positions of power like him that would consider it the end of the world to admit a mistake, much less correct it.

And with that, I'll get off my soapbox.

[BIGCatBobcat]

Right on, right on. I definitely know we don't have the worst owner, not an absentee owner either. He's spent the money in the last 2 years. That's true. Charlotte does tend to only see the bad of the Bobcats, the national media tends to not see us at all. All I know is, in the words of Ron Burgandy, he's kind of a big deal. He has not done much for us, except own the team. That's like me owning my car but someone else changes the oil, drives it, true I've got a good driver and I pay him well but he's not Michael Shumacker or anything, then I bitch about somebody not buying my gas. Not to harp on that but seriously dude has pissed me off. I doubt I'd enjoy a long conversation with him. He's the owner, he does enough I guess. I just sort of expected a world beater out of him.