CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan fired James Borrego Friday, abruptly ending the four-year tenure of a coach who was well-liked but who never could lead the franchise into the playoffs.
Firing Borrego is justifiable, given his mediocre record. You know something else that would be just as justified?
If Jordan fired himself.
For all of Jordan’s extraordinary success as an NBA player — and he’s still the best basketball player ever — he has failed spectacularly as an NBA owner. Borrego is only the latest example of a high-profile hire that didn’t work out.
Jordan’s career as a player and as an NBA owner have been polar opposites. Jordan won 30 NBA playoff series and six NBA championships in 13 years playing for the Chicago Bulls.
In 16 years as the Hornets’ primary basketball decision-maker, Jordan’s Hornets teams have won zero NBA playoff series and zero championships.
In those sour 16 seasons, the Hornets have had 12 losing records and have gone 3 for 16 making the playoffs. They also posted the worst record by winning percentage in NBA history, going 7-59 in 2011-12.
Although technically general manager Mitch Kupchak announced Borrego’s firing Friday afternoon and was the man who conducted most of the research to make this decision, make no mistake: Jordan signs off on everything.
Jordan has had final say over the Hornets’ basketball operations since he became a minority partner with the team in June 2006. He has been Charlotte’s majority owner since 2010, after he bought out Bob Johnson.
Here’s a list of all the coaches Jordan has employed in Charlotte from 2006-2022: Bernie Bickerstaff, Sam Vincent, Larry Brown, Paul Silas, Mike Dunlap, Steve Clifford and now Borrego.
Common denominator No. 1: All seven of those coaches, even the Hall of Famer Brown, had a losing record during their tenure under Jordan while in Charlotte.
Common denominator No. 2: Michael Jordan.
Borrego’s teams went 138-163 in his four-year tenure with the Hornets. This past season was Charlotte’s lone winning season under Borrego, but the team then got blown out for a second straight year in an NBA play-in game — a major factor in Borrego’s firing.
When I asked Borrego about how he felt about his job security after that 132-103 play-in loss in Atlanta, he said: “I haven’t even thought about that … I’ll go back. I’ll do my job. … I don’t worry about that. It does not faze me. I love this team. I trust this team. We’ve gotten better every single year, and we’ll take a step forward next year.”
Maybe they will, but not with Borrego. The Hornets have already started their search for a new coach, which may take several weeks.
Borrego defended his team and his record several times toward the end of the year, noting that Charlotte went from 23 wins two years ago to 33 wins one year ago to 43 wins this season.
There was some faulty logic to that, however. Borrego also won 39 games his first year before sliding to 23 the next after they stripped the team down to the studs. And the “no playoffs” thing is huge. Borrego was likable but ultimately not a winner — at least not here.
It’s also fair to point out Borrego didn’t get everything he needed to win. The Hornets have had rim-protection problems for longer than the Carolina Panthers have had quarterback problems. But he’s also had LaMelo Ball the past two seasons, who might one day become the best Hornets player ever if he sticks around.
It’s also fair to point out that the Hornets have had an uptick since Kupchak came on board as a respected GM with multiple NBA championships and Jordan took a step back from day-to-day basketball operations in 2018.
In retrospect, Kupchak traded Kemba Walker at the right time and has hit on several draft picks. The next coach will walk into a good situation, including two picks among the top 15 in June’s NBA draft.
But Charlotte hasn’t been without talent for Jordan’s tenure. Walker and Gerald Wallace were both All-Stars, along with Ball, and there have been other good players.
Still, the Hornets have never done anything like they did in the 1990s, when they had three 50-win seasons and routinely were among the Eastern Conference’s best half-dozen teams (though never, sadly, the East’s best).
Jordan was still playing then in the glorious decade of the 1990s for the Bulls, beating up on the Hornets and everyone else whenever he got the chance.
Jordan owned Charlotte then, which wasn’t good for Hornets fans.
Jordan owns them now, too. And that hasn’t been good for Hornets fans either.
