How Rockets’ Charles Barkley situation shows pettiness of Michael Jordan

Jordan’s track record in Charlotte

Let’s be honest here, for as great as Michael Jordan was as a player, he’s been equally as bad as an executive. Jordan first became the Hornets’ decision maker in 2006, and the Hornets have gone 430-651, including just two seasons of going above .500.

The Hornets have only made the playoffs three times during those 14 years, and we’re talking about the Eastern Conference. This certainly falls on the shoulders of Jordan, as his decisions have been largely the reasons for Charlotte’s struggles.

These decisions include firing Larry Brown midway through the 2010-11 season, which was strange considering how Brown had just led Charlotte to their first ever postseason during the 2009-10 season. Charlotte has had five different coaches in the last ten years, which is a sign of a dysfunctional front office.

Jordan also made bad decisions as it pertains to Charlotte’s roster construction, including trading away Gerald Wallace during the 2010-11 season, who made the All-Star team the previous year. Wallace was 28-years-old and was coming off a season in which he averaged 18.2 points and 10 rebounds, while shooting 37.1 percent from 3-point range.

Wallace was also named to the All-Defensive team, so the decision to move him was a questionable one. But Jordan got two first-round picks in return, and used one of them to draft Tobias Harris. Shortly after drafting Harris, Charlotte traded him and Stephen Jackson for Corey Maggette and Bismack Biyombo, which was certainly a head scratcher.

One of the most puzzling moves to Barkley involved the 2006 NBA Draft, which is when Jordan selected Adam Morrison instead of Brandon Roy, as Barkley explained.

“I said ‘Michael, I think you should take Brandon Roy, and he said ‘We like Adam Morrison,’ ” Barkley said. “I said ‘Adam Morrison can’t play. I said let me ask you a question, did you say Adam Morrison first and [the Bobcats front office staff] agreed with you or did they say Adam Morrison first? He said ‘What do you mean?’ I said ‘Michael, nobody wants to disagree with you. You are such a powerful personality nobody, especially your flunkies as I call them, the flunkies are never going to disagree with you.’ Adam Morrison is a nice kid. He can’t play in the NBA.”

Barkley was right regarding who the better player was, and Roy even played longer than Morrison, despite having his career cut short due to injuries. All in all, Roy played five seasons in the league and had career averages of 18.8 points, 4.7 assists, and 4.3 rebounds. On the flip side, Morrison played three seasons and averaged 7.5 points and 2.1 rebounds. If there was an area in which Morrison should have outperformed Roy, it was certainly in the rebounding category, as he had a height advantage over Roy and was also a big man.

But it’s not like Jordan’s poor decision making skills were all a thing of the past, however. In the 2018 NBA Draft Jordan’s Hornets drafted Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who looks to be a sure thing, and immediately traded him for Miles Bridges and two second-round picks. It’s safe to say this is a decision he’ll regret down the road.

Next: Jordan in DC