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By MIKE CRANSTON, AP Sports Writer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)—Michael Jordan became a basketball star at North Carolina. Now he’ll try to turn around the state’s money-losing NBA team by becoming the first ex-player to be a majority owner in the league.
The NBA’s Board of Governors on Wednesday unanimously approved Jordan’s $275 million bid to buy the Charlotte Bobcats from Bob Johnson. Jordan will immediately take over the team after functioning as a minority investor with the final say on basketball decisions since 2006.
“Purchasing the Bobcats is the culmination of my post-playing career goal of becoming the majority owner of an NBA franchise,” Jordan said in a statement. “I am especially pleased to have the opportunity to build a winning team in my home state of North Carolina. Read More
By TOM WITHERS, AP Sports Writer
CLEVELAND (AP)—Leon Powe(notes) has seen the Boston Celtics at their best. They aren’t there anymore.
After coming off the bench and helping the Cleveland Cavaliers put away the Celtics 104-93 on Sunday, Powe, who won an NBA title with Boston in 2008, took a moment to reflect on his former team, a squad showing signs of age and perhaps vulnerability.
“Looking at the defense from the championship year, when we won it, it doesn’t look the same,” Powe said. “It looks like the rotation is slower and they ain’t getting to the shooters and closing out like they did before. I don’t know if it’s effort or maybe they’re a little older.
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By Adrian Wojnarowski,
PHOENIX – Privately, people wonder: How many more passes does Kobe Bryant(notes) give Pau Gasol(notes) for speaking so boldly about him? How long until Bryant’s public and private reprisal comes with a ferocity that could bring a 7-footer to his knees? All season, Gasol has been a relentlessly consistent, if not passively aggressive, critic of the franchise star’s shooting habits, of an offense that doesn’t deliver him the ball with the frequency that he wants.
Whatever the reasons, Gasol has been emboldened to speak his mind. Whatever the odds, Bryant has bit his lip and let it go.
“I believe in what I believe,” Gasol said.
Hours before Friday night’s victory over the Phoenix Suns, chatting on a chair inside U.S. Airways Center, Bryant let out a laugh and insisted there will be no public rebuttals. “I’m not touching that,” Bryant said with a smile and shrug.
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