The Hornets are being sold to Tom Benson for $338 million, according to NBA.com. This is great news for Hornets fans, NBA fans and the NBA itself. No longer will the NBA own one of its franchises. No more intervention into Hornets roster moves. The NBA can function normally.
When the NBA owned the Hornets, questionable things happened. Aside from the Chris Paul saga, just having the leagues hand in everything gave off the wrong feel. Not even a huge Hornets fan could see it was wrong. Tom Benson will be the guy to stop that foolishness.
He owns the New Orleans Saints already, so he should already know how to run the Hornets well. This team has a long way to go. They’re young and lacking experience, but the Hornets have some pieces. Tom Benson’s job is to let the basketball decision makers do their job. Surely Tom Benson will want to ensure that the Hornets franchise is putting money in his pocket.
That’s his right, heck, I’d want to make sure a company I owned was profiting! Tom Benson needs to understand that contending and winning mean more money. Don’t be one of those owners who wants to do everything to stay under the cap. Not only is that a highly limiting mindset, it almost guarantees your team won’t contend. The Hornets need to be built up from the bottom of the mountain.
Whether Tom Benson manages his team with grace or thoughtlessness, at least the NBA isn’t ruling over one of the 30 teams! This means the balance of power is tipped the way it should be, people can’t point to the NBA owning the team as an excuse for anything and the Hornets can get a plan together to get back to prominence.
While it’s no easy task to make a mediocre NBA team great, it’s better to start then sit and pout. Congrats to Tom Benson on your new team and take a deep breath, NBA fans. The NBA doesn’t own any of its teams and this game only gets better everyday!