Michael Jordan tweets, ‘I’M BACK!’ then LOLs
Michael Jordan is taking over the Charlotte Hornets’ Twitter feed for the day and his first tweet was a doozy.
I’M BACK! just kidding LOL. Trying out social media for the first time and sharing my day with you. Ready? #MJTakeover
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) October 28, 2014
Yes, he was “just kidding. LOL” as he tweeted with #MJTakeover. He is, after all, 51. Maybe he’ll pick up steam with the social media thing after a little coffee.
Starting the day with coffee in my favorite mug #BuzzCity #MJTakeover pic.twitter.com/JAV7xazfQO
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) October 28, 2014
His social presence comes on the day of the opening of the NBA season, a day after Jordan — the owner of the Hornets — told ESPN how badly he’d like to see the team win.
“I’m always dreaming about that seventh ring,” he said, “and to get to that would be much more gratifying [than the six he won as a Chicago Bulls player].”
Being an owner is a lot harder than playing. He admitted that he had to adjust to the fact that as an owner “you can’t impact the game. You cannot impact the game.” He went on to talk about criticism he’s faced — particularly when the Hornets put together one of the NBA’s historically worst seasons. He didn’t mention Charles Barkley by name, though.
“I played this game for a long time and I always took criticism in a way that’s going to make me better as a basketball player and I could affect the game per se,” Jordan said. “Here, I can’t do that other than talking to my other employees or coaches or players.”
Barkley, now an NBA TV analyst, explained Monday in a roundtable with reporters, how his commentary chilled their relationship.
“We’re not friendly. I still love him. He’s doing a good job now. [His former Chicago Bulls coach] Phil Jackson said the same thing I said and I wonder if he still speaks to Phil Jackson,” Barkley said (via USA Today). “I said Michael had to get rid of the people around him. You can’t have your friends working for you, you’ve got to surround yourself with good basketball people. He had not done that. I love what he did with Al Jefferson. I love him going out and getting Lance [Stephenson]. I love the kid Noah Vonleh from Indiana. He’s done a good job, but he had not done a good job up until then. It’s put a strain on our relationship and we’re not together any more.”
Yes, it's really me doing this #MJTakeover pic.twitter.com/C7fa9EmZLB
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) October 28, 2014
This story was originally published October 28, 2014 at 11:49 AM.