Hey, not looking for a fight, but that is the only possible conclusion after reading thru a New York Times profile of the big Bobcat.
Johnson simply has no clue about what it will take to win over the Charlotte market to his NBA franchise. Witness the linchpin of the piece, Johnson’s presence at the Fight Night for Kids charity event at the end of January.
Nice event, raises money for good causes — and guarantees Johnson will interact with exactly .00003 percent of actual Charlotte residents not already card-carrying members of the Uptown crowd. Just another Charlotte Sports Commission/Convention Center Authority insider, dress-up deal. Johnson would widen his Charlotte circle more by asking Skipper Beck for the name of a good urologist.
Proof? Here’s the Uptown paper of record’s coverage of the night: ______________________
Leave it to the Times to parachute in and mistake a gathering “of the South’s ultra-elite for a quasi-frat party, a swaggering, testosterone-fueled evening featuring hundreds of tuxedo-clad honchos feted with steak and martinis and greeted by scantily-clad hostesses. Mr. Johnson takes to the slugfest as the night wears on, rolling his shoulders to dodge imaginary blows, as if he himself were up against the ropes” for actual news.
The real story is that Bobcat czar Michael Jordan has once again stiffed the local media in favor of some national play. In fact, Jordan’s input is a dead give-away that this profile was carefully stage-managed by Johnson’s handlers.
It certainly gives Johnson another chance to claim that BET was a net positive for the black community, not to mention spin his vision:
ON the afternoon before the charity boxing match, Mr. Johnson sits in a Charlotte eatery, a few blocks from the Bobcats’ yet-to-be-named coliseum, reflecting on the history of black capitalists in America — a past, he says, that is painfully slight.
“The fact is, black people do not have much of a history in creating wealth in this country. As a result, we are not trusted to handle other people’s money,” he says. “We are valued mostly for our physical talent, our artistic talent and maybe our ability to sell to other blacks. But when it comes to building value in companies, or managing the money of whites, overseeing investments, there has always been this discrimination.”
He shrugs and stabs his crab cake. “But let’s face it, on the other hand, race discrimination gives me a natural public relations advantage. Because of race discrimination, I can get a pat on the back just for being first,” he says. “That’s how I get the visibility, the first-mover advantage. That’s what I like — to enter the arena first.”
And get help with the spin from local officials:
“I don’t know of a professional sports franchise that can fill up an arena when they’re in last place; you have to win games,” says Mayor Patrick McCrory of Charlotte. “It’s just that simple.”
It doesn’t help that Charlotte fans still nurse a grudge over the last pro team that rolled into town. Back in the late 1980s, the businessman George Shinn started the Charlotte Hornets but relocated to New Orleans after his unsuccessful bid for a new basketball arena.
Mr. Jordan, the former Chicago Bulls star, says: “There has been a wedge that’s been created here. There was trust and respect that had been earned and then the team leaves. People are still upset about that.”
For his part, Mr. Johnson says he is ready to mend those wounds. Yet even as he tries to demonstrate passion for Charlotte and the Bobcats, he sounds the notes of a brass-tacks, no-nonsense entrepreneur. “I like this city,” he says. “It’s business-oriented. It’s got the big banks; the government is profit-oriented; it’s a transportation hub. It’s non-union.”
Spoken like a true member of the Uptown crowd. No wonder so many seats are empty.
