Johnson’s ‘Passion’ Wins Him Franchise

Business know-how, a passion for basketball and a commitment to Charlotte. Robert Johnson had exactly what the NBA wanted, and now the billionaire is on his way to becoming the first black majority owner in major pro sports.

The league officially announced Wednesday that Johnson was its choice to buy the NBA’s newest expansion team, selecting him over a group that included Larry Bird.

“You can’t be competitive anywhere in this world if you ignore good, quality talent,” Johnson said. “That decision was made some 50 years ago when Branch Rickey brought Jackie Robinson into baseball.”

Johnson, 56, is the billionaire founder of Black Entertainment Television.

Pending approval of the 29 NBA owners, he will pay $300 million to become the owner of the league’s 30th team, which will begin play in the 2004-05 season.

“Bob Johnson deserved to get this franchise based on who he is, not what he is,” Phoenix Sun owner Jerry Colangelo said when Johnson was introduced as the man who will bring the NBA back to North Carolina.

The new team, not yet nicknamed, will replace the Hornets, who left Charlotte for New Orleans last summer.

Johnson, a self-described optimist and opportunist, was chosen instead of a group headed by Boston businessman Steve Belkin that included Bird and former Celtic executives M.L. Carr and Jan Volk.

Both prospective ownership groups made presentations to the expansion committee on Monday, and Johnson won it over.

“When he appeared before the committee, his passion was felt by the people sitting around that table,” Colangelo said. “They felt that here was a man who has been very successful, that he has a passion for this game, and he shows a willingness and a commitment to make this thing go.

“The fact that he’s an African American was a plus, it was a byproduct, but he was not awarded this franchise because of that.”

Johnson sat alongside Colangelo, NBA Commissioner David Stern, Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik and Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory during a news conference at the NBA Store.

Granik said the league would look into realignment in the near future and that Charlotte might have to play in the Western Conference for a season or two.

Johnson, who also takes over management of the WNBA’s Charlotte Sting, said he would soon begin putting together a management team.

Asked if he would consider hiring Bird, Johnson gave a one-word answer: “No.”

Raised in Mississippi and educated at Illinois and Princeton, Johnson spoke about what the selection meant to him and minorities nationwide.

“I’m obviously very proud of what African Americans have accomplished since they’ve been in this country,” he said. “To say [it has been] under difficult conditions would be an understatement, but through all of that 200-plus-year history we have always achieved by trying to be the best despite the odds.”

The co-owners who moved the Hornets, George Shinn and Ray Wooldridge, fell out of favor with the people of Charlotte over numerous issues.

Their team, which led the NBA in attendance for several seasons in the late 1980s and early ‘90s, played in front of small crowds last season when it became apparent the Hornets would be moving.

Johnson will be the man at the forefront of trying to repair the relationship between the city’s basketball fans and its newest sports franchise.

“After a while, the race issue dissipates for most people,” he said. “I don’t care what color you are, if you put a lousy team on the court, you can be in a town with 100% black population and you’ll never get anybody at the game.”