Jordan, From Player To Owner

New Jersey also gets a face over - A new face will now be seen in the NBA owners committee as well as a familiar one. Mikhail Prokhorov or better known as Russia's richest man, recently agreed to become a principle owner of the New Jersey Nets. And although he's new to both the team and the NBA, the man made sure he got familiar with Nets fans right away. While attending a game at the Izod Center where the Nets play their home games, Prokhorov approached a couple of fans who were wearing bags on their heads and began chewing them out, showing how prideful of the team he just might be. Why bags you ask? Still attending games for a team that currently owns the league's worst record of 9-64 could be quite embarrassing. And as we've often seen in other sports, mostly football, brown paper bags are a useful item for those trying to hide their identity.

With incidents like this, the Russian mystery man that no one knows too much about will soon get the recognition he needs. The other newest member of the NBA owners committee, needs no further introduction. Earlier last week, the league approved of Michael Jordan's purchase of the Charlotte Bobcats. With sole possession of the Charlotte franchise, Jordan becomes the first ex-player to be named a majority owner of an NBA team. The sport of Hockey seen a similar situation as Canada's Mario Lemieux became the owner of the team he played 17-seasons with once upon a time -- the Pittsburgh Penguins. One accomplishment Lemieux has over the field, is that he's the only person to win the Stanley Cup as both a player and a owner. A feat Jordan also hopes to one day achieve, as he has the player part down with a total of 6-NBA rings.

MJ, who's most recent job before heading to Charlotte, was his front office position with the Washington Wizards, as he served as the team's Director of Basketball Operations as well as the minority owner. But despite the presence of arguably the greatest player to ever step foot on the hardwood, the team still proved to be unsuccessful. And when a team can't overcome its issues even with the help of Michael Jordan, things just aren't meant to be. But since his tenure in Washington, he says he's much more passionate and went as far as comparing himself to Mavs owner Mark Cuban. But as smart of an owner Cuban is, I don't think Jordan wants to compare himself to Cuban, who's been known for getting a bit too close to his players as well as getting too caught up in the game.

Upon his new position with the team, Jordan played a little 1-on-1 with Bobcats rookie Gerald Henderson. And just like the speech he gave during his Hall of Fame induction, Jordan brought his cocky attitude to the court. While attending one of the team's morning shootaround's, Jordan challenged the former Blue Devil to a game of H-O-R-S-E, where he lost not once, but twice to an alum of the team he grew up hating as a child. And just like in this year's college basketball season, Duke came out victoriously over North Carolina. To make matters worse, Henderson is currently shooting a dismal 34 percent from the field. Hopefully the two game beating will teach Jordan a lesson, because no one likes a cocky person let alone a boss.


Back to the Mikhail Prokhorov - paper bag situation, now that I think about it, I'm surprised Mikhail didn't approach the fans and ask for a bag of his own...