The sale of the Hornets for $3 billion is the biggest score yet for Jordan, who has a history of blockbuster paydays since he entered the NBA in 1984.CHRISTOPHER HANEWINCKEL/USA TODAY SPORTS
The NBA board of governors approved the sale of the Charlotte Hornets to a group led by Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin over the weekend. The agreement values the team at roughly $3 billion and will end Michael Jordan’s 13-year run as the club’s majority owner. The deal is expected to close next month with Jordan remaining a minority investor.
The sale of the Hornets is the biggest score yet for Jordan, who has a history of blockbuster paydays since he entered the NBA in 1984.
Here is a look at the lifetime numbers on and off the court for the global icon.
0: Black majority owners of NBA franchises after the Hornets sale closes.
$0: Earnings from the popular 2020 documentary, The Last Dance. He donated his entire multi-million dollar share of the proceeds to charity.
2: Years with the NBA’s highest salary, peaking at $33.1 million during the 1997-98 season.
3: Winning records by Charlotte over the last 13 seasons.
4: Race wins for Jordan’s 23XI Racing team, which he launched for the 2021 NASCAR season with Denny Hamlin
5: Number of regular season MVP awards won, tied with Bill Russell for second-most all time; only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has won the award six times. In December, the NBA announced the MVP trophy would be named after Jordan.
6: NBA titles and NBA Finals MVPs won with the Chicago Bulls.
10: Seasons leading the NBA in scoring.
26: Q Score, which measures celebrity appeal, remains tied for the highest among athletes.
30.12: NBA-record career scoring average with Wilt Chamberlain (30.07) a tick behind, followed by Elgin Baylor (27.4) and Kevin Durant (27.3) among players with at least 350 games played.
77%: Current awareness level in the U.S., second highest among athletes behind only Tiger Woods, according to Q Scores.
100: Estimated members of The Grove XXIII, the exclusive golf club Jordan opened in 2019 in Hobe Sound, Fla.
2006: Year of minority investment in the Hornets as a minority owner. Full ownership came in 2010 under a deal that valued the team at $275 million, including debt.
423-600: Charlotte’s record during tenure as majority owner. The Hornets’ 7-59 record during the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season was the worst winning percentage in NBA history at .106.
$1,900: Price of the most expensive bottle in the Cincoro tequila line, Extra Añejeo—the Blanco is $72. In 2019, Jordan launched the tequila brand with fellow NBA owners Jeanie Buss, Wes Edens and Wyc Grousbeck.
$10 million: Donation made to the Make-A-Wish Foundation to celebrate his 60th birthday in February.
29 million: Average per-game viewership for the 1998 NBA Finals and sixth Bulls’ title. It is an NBA record, as is the 35.9 million people who watched the clinching Game 6. This year averaged 11.6 million viewers and had a peak of 17.9 million.
$90 million: Total playing salary earned during his career, which is 1/25th of his off-the-court earnings.
$90 million: Worldwide box office for the 2023 film, Air; it details the origin story of Jordan’s 1984 signing with Nike. The film is the first to premiere under Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity studio, which is backed by RedBird Capital Partners.
$126 million: Year one sales of Nike’s Air Jordan line following an endorsement deal signed in 1984 that paid $250,000 annually, plus a share of sales.
$200+ million: Annual earnings from Nike last year.
$3.3 billion: Estimated career earnings adjusted for inflation from playing salaries, royalties and endorsements over the past four decades. It does not include investment gains or asset sales, like the Hornets. The tally is $2.37 billion unadjusted for inflation through the end of 2022.
$6.6 billion: Revenue for Nike’s Jordan Brand in the fiscal year ending May 2023. The 29% year-over-year growth was three times Nike’s next best performing division. Jordan sales have tripled since 2015.
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