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Michael Jordan is finalizing his sale of the Charlotte Hornets to Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall, the Hornets announced Friday. Jordan, the NBA legend and North Carolina native, will retain a minority stake in the team that he bought into first in 2006. 

Plotkin was previously a minority owner of the Hornets, while Schnall was a minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks, so they both have some experience in the NBA. They will both serve as governors of the Hornets once the NBA's vetting process is complete. Musician J. Cole will also be among the minority owners taking part in this purchase. The following statement was released on Friday morning concerning the sale of the franchise. 

Hornets Sports & Entertainment (HSE) announced today that Chairman Michael Jordan has reached an agreement to sell his majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets to a group ("the Buyer Group") led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall.

Plotkin, who acquired a minority stake in the Hornets in 2019, has been an alternate governor on the NBA Board of Governors since 2019 and is the founder and chief investment officer of Tallwoods Capital LLC. Schnall is co-president of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice LLC, where he has worked for 27 years, and has been a significant minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks and an alternate governor on the NBA Board of Governors since 2015. Schnall is in the process of selling his investment in the Hawks, which is expected to be completed in the next several weeks.

The Buyer Group will also include Chris Shumway, Dan Sundheim, Ian Loring, Dyal HomeCourt Partners, North Carolina natives recording artist J. Cole and country music singer-songwriter Eric Church, and several local Charlotte investors, including Amy Levine Dawson and Damian Mills.

As part of the transaction, Jordan will retain a minority ownership share of the team. The transaction is subject to the approval of the NBA Board of Governors. Along with the Hornets, HSE ownership includes the Greensboro Swarm (NBA G League) and Hornets Venom GT (NBA 2K League), as well as managing and operating Spectrum Center, each of which is included as part of the sale.

Jordan officially became Charlotte's majority owner in 2010, when the team was still named the Charlotte Bobcats, and his time leading the franchise has been mostly disappointing. In 13 years at the helm, the Hornets made the playoffs just three times and never won a series. His defining move may have been bringing the Hornets brand back to the city where it originated, after the original Charlotte Hornets had relocated to New Orleans. 

In addition to his ownership of the Hornets, Jordan previously served as minority owner and president of basketball operations for the Washington Wizards, but they never reached the playoffs with Jordan as either an executive or a player.

Plotkin and Schnall will take over the Hornets at a critical period in franchise history. Charlotte owns the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA Draft and needs to decide between top prospects Scoot Henderson, Brandon Miller and Amen Thompson. They also need to decide on a possible extension for 2022 All-Star point guard LaMelo Ball, who will become eligible for a new deal later this offseason.

Typically, new owners also make sweeping changes to front offices. Doing so could be a priority in Charlotte, as the Hornets have a notoriously small basketball operations department that has prioritized leaders connected to Jordan's time at the University of North Carolina. Current general manager Mitch Kupchak played for Dean Smith from 1972-76, and assistant general manager Buzz Peterson was Jordan's roommate in college.

Jordan is currently the only Black majority owner in the NBA, and should he complete the sale, the league will be back to zero. Rumors of LeBron James taking over a Las Vegas expansion franchise in the near future could give the league another former player at the helm, but for the time being, the league is losing an invaluable perspective within its ownership ranks.