Hornets Owner Shinn Acknowledges Mistakes In Charlotte

Shinn Regrets Mistakes Made In Charlotte; Says City Of New Orleans Now Needs The Hornets

Hornets Owner George Shinn said that the team "would likely still be in Charlotte had he acted differently when his personal life became the center of a controversy that engulfed" the franchise, leading to its move to New Orleans in '02, according to Ron Green Jr. of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. Tomorrow marks the 20th anniversary since the Charlotte Hornets' debut, and Shinn said, "I had my issues there. One of the biggest mistakes I made, and this is hindsight, I quit. I was so humiliated and taken back by the bad judgment I made in my life. ... I was so embarrassed." Green Jr. wrote Shinn's fallout from a '99 sexual assault case "was immense, and Shinn withdrew from the public." Shinn: "I had been making speeches all over, and I never charged a dime. I quit doing it. I quit talking to the press. It was the stupidest thing I could have done." Shinn said of New Orleans, "I've made enough mistakes in my life. I'm not going to make one here. This city needs us here. We're going to make this (New Orleans) thing work." Shinn: "If you embrace the city, the city will embrace you. It happened in Charlotte" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 11/2).

UP CLOSE & PERSONAL: In Charlotte, Scott Fowler wrote Bobcats Managing Member of Basketball Operations Michael Jordan at Saturday's home opener against the Heat at Time Warner Cable Arena was "extremely visible ... literally closer to the Bobcats on a game night than he has ever been before." Jordan "was sitting about 5 feet" from the Bobcats bench, and he said that he "actually purchased those seats." Jordan also owns a suite in the arena and "plans to alternate sitting up high and down low when he's here" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 11/2).