Michael Jordan's Horse Playing

Less than three days after inking a deal to become majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, Michael Jordan engaged in a game of H-O-R-S-E with rookie Gerald Henderson. The Bobcats were holding a shootaround early yesterday before their night game against the Dallas Mavericks. Jordan is said to have been joking on Henderson as he often does because Henderson is from Duke. That joking turned to trash talking, which led to the game of H-O-R-S-E. Henderson beat Jordan, and the competitive former Number 23 wanted a rematch, of which Henderson also won.

This little contest made it onto several of the sports news shows and blogs as if it is surprising that a 22-year-old NBA rookie would beat a 47-year-old retired legend. But it just goes to show that many people still see MJ as being invincible. Below are videos of the two H-O-R-S-E matches.





Jordan was also courtside during the Bobcats' home game last night. Unfortunately, the team lost, but Jordan's presence might just please some of the naysayers. Ever since talk surfaced about Jordan trying to buy the team, the most popular comment made from almost anyone who has offered an opinion is that they hope Jordan won't be an absentee owner like Bob Johnson.



And, perhaps, the second most popular comment being made in the last couple of days is that Jordan should rename the Bobcats. This is most often suggested by people who hate Bob Johnson, who think that Bob named the team after himself. The Bobcats has been the team's mascot since the franchise was awarded in 2003 to replace the departed-to-New Orleans Hornets. I think it would be absurd to change the team's mascot. With the Bobcats now in their sixth season, some people around the country still don't know that this is our NBA team (some don't even realize that the Hornets left). Renaming the team is a false premise that will not satisfy the people who have ridiculous, crying-over-spilled-milk reasons for not liking the Charlotte Bobcats. I wish they would remember that only 28 cities in this country have NBA teams (there are 30 teams; Los Angeles has two and there's one in Canada) and Charlotte is very fortunate to be one of them. Jordan and the Bobcats just need to continue to focus on getting to the playoffs this season and everything else will begin to fall into place.