“Retire from ESPN”: Former NBA Champion Takes a Sarcastic Dig at Michael Jordan for His Outrageous Signings

When the storm hits, one shops for essentials, and not luxury products. Michael Jordan, the Charlotte Hornets’ owner, seems to have missed out on this logic with his outrageous signing of Gordon Hayward.

The Hornets surprised the entire league by throwing $128 million on the table for a 4-year contract with Hayward. No one saw that coming, perhaps not even Gordon himself. This sparked a huge debate where all the Hornets received was skepticism and laughter.

NBA analysts laugh off Michael Jordan for his decision

In a recent interview, former NBA Champion Kendrick Perkins didn’t hold back and sarcastically expressed, “This was a bad deal, we coming off Thanksgiving and Michael Jordan already thinking about Christmas because if he’s gonna be this giving, I might have to retire from ESPN and go get back in shape, because if he’s going to giving out his dollars, I can go out there and go send picks and rebound if he’s just in a giving mood. This type of signing is not good.”

Gordon will be a 31-year-old in no time and he is well past his prime that came in 2016-17 while playing for the Utah Jazz. When the Celtics signed him, they signed a 27-year-old for $32 million per year when the cap space was over $99 million. Today, as the Hornets sign him, they’re giving away 33.4% of their space on one player who missed 111 regular-season games in the past three years. So in a way, they’re paying more for a lesser fit and aging Gordon than Boston did.

Kendrick further added, “It’s hard to land free agents in a small market, but when you go out and give a $120 million to a guy that’s over 30… to land a Gordon Hayward, who’s to me not a #1 option guy, it can set your organization back in the future.”

The Charlotte Hornets now have more reasons to worry

MJ had earlier shown his interest in picking Anthony Edwards in the NBA Drafts 2020. Since he went to the Timberwolves, Air Jordan still landed a great talent in LaMelo Ball. However, they blew this win by spending heftily on Gordon. The 30-year-old an All-star team just once and chances are slim that he’ll ever make a comeback. 

KP ended his comments by exclaiming, “You did well about drafting LaMelo Ball, you continue to draft young guys and develop young guys and have a great player development, not go out there and spend a $120 million on an aging Gordon Hayward who hasn’t really been healthy.”

The teams like the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers were also interested in the 6’7” forward. However, they did not have such a huge space to attract him. This deal has really left the Hornets in a thick soup. This has again proved that MJ does not make for a very good decision-maker.