Nine Lives: Bobcats The Latest NBA Stop For Larry Brown

Jordan (l) Says He Tried To Hire Brown Last Year

INSTANT CREDIBILITY? In Charlotte, Tom Sorensen writes, "Hiring Larry Brown is the best move the franchise has made. ... They bought credibility. They proved they were willing to part with their dollars" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 4/30). ESPN's Kevin Blackistone said of the hiring, “I’m just surprised. ... The history on (Bobcats Owner) Bob Johnson and his short ownership career is that he was a little tight with the money and wasn’t going to go out and get the players and the coaches that it takes.” Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti said Brown “could excite the people in Charlotte (and) start packing the house. ... He might even make Jordan look good." Mariotti: "Between Jordan, Larry Brown and some of those Carolina players on the team, you actually can get that franchise moving as far as attendance and interest” (“Around The Horn,” ESPN, 4/29).

COLOR BLIND: SPORTINGNEWS.com's Sam Smith noted the readers commenting on a Bobcats story on the Charlotte Observer's Web site Sunday were "engaged in a discussion, somewhat puerile and mean-spirited, about whether the Bobcats hire just black people." Smith: "It's actually something you hear occasionally about the franchise around the NBA, and I've always dismissed it. Because I do know Jordan from covering him his entire career. ... My history with Jordan shows he just wants to beat you at everything and couldn't care less about anything but the color of your money" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 4/28).

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