Michael Jordan, the most famous basketball player ever and now the proud owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, is leading a group of 10-14 hardline owners who are demanding that the league not negotiate past its current offer of a 50-50 revenue split, reports the New York Times' Howard Beck.
NBA Lockout: Michael Jordan Reportedly Leading Significant Cabal Of Owners Opposed To Moving Past 50-50
This cabal may not even like 50-50.
According to the person who spoke with the owners, Jordan’s faction intends to vote against the 50-50 deal, if negotiations get that far. Saturday’s owners meeting was arranged in part to address that concern.
A majority of the 29 owners are believed to support a 50-50 deal, but they are reluctant to move further.
Jordan’s team is one of the NBA’s toughest markets, and few would disagree that in retrospect it was a mistake for the league to expand back into Charlotte in 2004. Jordan was recently fined $100,000 by commissioner David Stern for comments he made to an Australian newspaper about the need for a hard salary cap.
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