If True, Let’s Call Him Err Jordan

Any news that contains the words Michael Jordan and back and NBA is good news.

But at this stage in his life, the best way for Jordan to help the league would be to join in as an owner. That’s why reports Jordan might buy a share of the Charlotte Hornets get me much more excited than the less believable rumor that he will play for them next year.

Jordan has done all the work he needs to do on the court. He brought championships to his team and his adopted hometown of Chicago. He entertained millions of fans. He generated billions of dollars and enough memories to last us a lifetime. End of chapter.

If Jordan takes the next step and becomes an owner, he will finally be worthy of those ads that implored us to “Be Like Mike” and set an example of maximizing opportunities as well as physical capabilities.

It’s not enough to be satisfied because you can dunk on people. Ownership. That’s the goal that youth--particularly African-American youth--should seek. Don’t just be a player, be a player, a big-money shot-caller. After working on the jumper, it wouldn’t hurt to come home and read a book or study the stock market.

Magic Johnson never signed a $100-million contract, but by the end of the year he expects to control $500 million worth of real estate. That’s because he takes business just as seriously as he took basketball.

During the NBA labor negotiations, I was with the players when they sought unlimited contracts. This is America after all, and people should seek whatever the market will bear. But they lost me when they complained that there isn’t a cap on the owners’ incomes.

If they really feel they are being shorted, they should save their money, pool their resources and look to buy teams after they retire. They already have a head start. Do you think most of today’s owners were blessed with the millions of dollars in capital NBA stars have at their disposal by age 25?

Amid all the ugliness of the lockout, a particularly ugly strain emerged when some players grumbled to Newsweek that they saw an element of racism to the lockout. With all-white ownership and predominantly black players, it was only a matter of time before that cropped up. Again, if the players don’t like the looks of that, do something about it. And who better to start than Jordan, who profited from the game more than anyone in the history of the league?

“I would like to see him [do it] because he’s black, not because he’s Michael Jordan,” Jordan’s buddy Charles Barkley said. “We need more black owners.”

Even one with an equal or majority share would be more than there are today. Magic led a group that tried to buy the Toronto expansion entry, but lost out to another group. He’d love to buy the Lakers, but he’ll never get more than his current 5% stake in the team. When Jerry Buss decides to sell the team, it will either stay in the family or go to some huge conglomerate.

By purchasing 50% of the Hornets from George Shinn, Jordan could make history. It also would make sense. Anyone would be better for the Hornets than Shinn. Yes, even Donald Sterling. There’s a difference between simple ineptitude and plain embarrassment, which is what Shinn has become with the sexual harassment allegations made against him.

The other intriguing angle to this story is what would become of Jordan and his agent, David Falk. It has been an incredibly successful relationship, with Falk providing the vision that enabled Jordan’s name and silhouette to become a brand unto itself, and Jordan’s luster helping Falk to become one of the top forces in basketball. That’s why Falk has almost as many pictures of Jordan as he does family members in his office.

Presumably, it would be a conflict of interest to have Jordan the owner represented by a player agent. An NBA spokesman said the topic has come up but would not be seriously addressed until the sale came closer to reality.

If Jordan and Falk split, how fun would it be to see the two former allies square off in contract negotiations?

But maybe Falk, who said Wednesday there was “absolutely no truth” to the rumor of Jordan’s return as a player, would see this as the time to get out. The basketball agent business ain’t what it used to be. Under the new collective bargaining agreement that puts a ceiling on player salaries, a superstar would make the same money whether his mother or Falk negotiated the contract. The only way for Falk to show his strength these days is to play general manager and arrange trades for his clients, like the deals he brokered to send Stephon Marbury from Minnesota to New Jersey and Glen Rice from Charlotte to L.A. last month.

So maybe Jordan could bring Falk aboard as part of his front office and make him a full-time GM. With Falk unable to hold teams and the league hostage anymore, Commissioner David Stern would probably arrange a conference call with the other 28 general managers just to say a collective “Yippee!”

There would be some poetic justice if Falk were forced to turn around a team he helped devalue. In 1995, Falk forced the Hornets to trade Alonzo Mourning when the team wouldn’t pay Mourning what he wanted. Three and a half years later, money issues led Falk to arrange for the departure of Rice, the principal player the Hornets received from Miami in the Mourning trade.

It would be the perfect situation for Falk. And, really, for Jordan.

He always said he likes challenges.

J.A. Adande can be reached at his e-mail address: j.a.adande@latimes.com