Michael Jordan has two sources of income that will likely keep him at billionaire status for the rest of his life: earning 5% royalty from every Jordan product that is sold and being the Chairperson of the Charlotte Hornets franchise.
Advertisement
MJ, having grown up in North Carolina and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for 3 years, would purchase the then Charlotte Bobcats in 2010. The Bobcats were a relatively unsuccessful franchise and so he bought them for a price tag of $175 million.
As of 2023, the Hornets are worth well over $1.5 billion, making this the best investment of the 6x NBA champion’s career. Having been a player in the league before however, Jordan could let his emotions get the better of him. This is exactly what happened during a December 2018 game between the Hornets and the Pistons.
Malik Monk got slapped by Michael Jordan
Malik Monk was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets in 2017 and was in his sophomore year when he went viral for having gotten slapped by none other than the owner of the franchise he plays for, Michael Jordan.
During the Pistons-Hornets game that resulted in the latter winning 108-107, Monk would run onto the court preemptively, prior to the buzzer sounding. This led to a technical being called onto him. An infuriated MJ would slap Malik twice on the back of his head for making this blunder.
#Hornets owner Michael Jordan wasn’t too happy with Malik Monk after he ran onto the court before the game was over and got called for a technical 😭😂@WCCBCharlotte pic.twitter.com/575UlSeZNz
— Zach Aldridge (@wzaldridge) December 13, 2018
While many laughed at this, others claimed he shouldn’t have done something physical to his own player in front of his teammates and thousands of fans. In a statement that he released through the Associated Press, he would say, “It was like a big brother and little brother tap. No negative intent. Only love.”
Where is Malik Monk now?
It has been over 4 years since this incident with Michael Jordan and Malik Monk is currently not on the Charlotte Hornets roster. After the 2020-21 season, where he would finish out his $15 million contract, he would get traded from the Hornets to the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer of 2021.
He would have his best statistical season with the purple and gold and would even start close to half of his games, which was a big upgrade from having started only once before in his career. However, this 2022-23 season sees him playing for the Sacramento Kings, a team that has made waves through the Western Conference.
