Michael Jordan reportedly in talks to sell his majority stake in the Hornets

Why is matters: Jordan, the Hornets’ owner for the last 13 years, is a six-time NBA champion and largely regarded to be the greatest basketball player of all time.

• He is the NBA’s only Black majority owner.

Flashback: Jordan bought a majority stake in the team, then the Charlotte Bobcats, from former owner Bob Johnson in 2010 for $180 million. He had been a minority owner in the team since 2006.

• In 2020, Jordan sold a significant minority stake to Plotkin, founder and chief investment officer of Melvin Capital, and Daniel Sundheim, founder and chief investment officer of D1 Capital, as ESPN reported.
• The Hornets are worth an estimated $1.7 billion, per Forbes.

Zoom out: Jordan’s tenure has had its highs and lows. The team, for instance, has struggled in recent years and hasn’t made the playoffs since 2016.

• In 2019, Charlotte hosted the NBA All-Star Game, two years later than originally planned. The league had relocated it in 2017 because of its objection to North Carolina’s HB2, or the so-called “bathroom bill.”

• The Hornets are in 418-600 in Jordan’s time at the franchise’s helm, as the Observer reported, and team has had five head coaches.

Of note: If the sale goes through, Jordan would remain a minority owner in the team, per ESPN.

A Hornets spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.