Michael Jordan is the richest athlete in the history of the NBA, largely due to his Nike deal and endorsements with several other brands. By the turn of the century, Jordan had enough money to have a stake in an NBA franchise. He would eventually buy the Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets) franchise in 2010 for $275 million. However, David Stern offered him a piece in a different franchise years before the Bobcats deal went through.
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Jordan wanted to have a piece of the Chicago Bulls but couldn’t do so because of owner Jerry Reinsdorf. Things didn’t work out with the Washington Wizards either after he sold his minority stake there to come back as a player in 2001.
However, Jordan did get a chance to buy another important franchise in the Mid-West. In 2003, the Milwaukee Bucks were up for sale, along with the San Antonio Spurs, Charlotte Bobcats, Atlanta Hawks, and the Miami Heat.
Then-NBA commissioner David Stern invited MJ to take a look at the franchises, including the Milwaukee Bucks. However, according to Fan Nation’s Bucks Zone, then-owner of the Bucks, Herb Kohl pulled the plug on the trade immediately.
Kohl felt that if he sold the franchise to the Bulls legend, he would take the team to somewhere else and deprive Milwaukee of its basketball legacy. “I have decided not to sell the Milwaukee Bucks at this time, and will continue to own them, improve them, and commit them to remaining in Wisconsin,” Kohl had said at the time.
The Bucks deal would have cost MJ much less than his $275 million purchase of the Bobcats in 2010. But it wasn’t to be.
Thankfully, Herb Kohl only sold the Bucks (in 2014) after they drafted Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2013. Considering Jordan’s track record as an executive/Governor, the Bucks could have been on a completely different trajectory if the sale had gone through in 2003.
This past April, Marc Lasry, who bought the team in 2014 with Wes Edens, sold his share to Dee Haslam and Jimmy Haslam.
MJ launched a tequila company with current Bucks’ co-owner
After meeting Lakers’ owner Jeannie Buss, Celtics’ part-owner Wyc Grousbeck, and Bucks’ co-owner Wes Edens at a pizzeria named Pasquale Jones, Jordan decided to team up with them to launch Cincoro Tequila.
So, MJ might have missed his opportunity to co-own the Bucks with Edens. But he does own a business with him right now.
