Michael Jordan in talks to promote majority stake in Hornets, sources say

Charlotte Hornets proprietor Michael Jordan is engaged in severe talks to promote a majority stake within the franchise to a gaggle led by Hornets minority proprietor Gabe Plotkin and Atlanta Hawks minority proprietor Rick Schnall, sources informed ESPN on Thursday.

No deal is imminent, however there’s vital momentum on a sale that will finally set up Plotkin and Schnall because the co-governors of the Hornets, sources mentioned.

If a sale is accomplished, Jordan is predicted to stay with a minority stake within the franchise, sources mentioned.

Jordan, a six-time NBA champion and five-time MVP, is taken into account by many to be the best participant within the historical past of the sport and has been the league’s solely Black majority proprietor.

Jordan bought a major minority stake to Plotkin, founder and chief funding officer of Melvin Capital, and Daniel Sundheim, founder and chief funding officer of D1 Capital, in 2020, and sources mentioned that Sundheim is a part of the group working to buy the crew.

Selling a majority share of the Hornets would mark the tip of Jordan’s 13-year run as proprietor. He paid $275 million for a majority stake within the franchise in 2010.

Schnall, co-president at personal fairness agency of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in New York, was a part of a gaggle that features majority proprietor Tony Ressler and Grant Hill that bought the Hawks in 2015 for $850 million.