NASCAR team 23XI Racing is “way better money” for Michael Jordan than Charlotte Hornets

Michael Jordon is a man of many trades. Arguably the greatest basketball player of all time, Jordan didn’t make his $1.8 Billion empire by just dominating the court for the Chicago Bulls. His off-court business ventures played a significant role in it. An athlete can never move away from the sport he loves, and even after retirement, they often science for ways to remain in their element. Jordan made it a possibility by purchasing the North Caroline-based NBA team Charlotte Bobcats, now the Charlotte Hornets.

Jordan didn’t stop there with his ventures into sports ownership. Being from Charlotte, the Mecca of US Motorsports, Jordan explores the racing world. He built his own NASCAR team after selecting ventures into Motocross racing. He joined NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin and debuted 23XI Racing Toyota cars full-time in 2021, with Bubba Wallace as their driver.

The success graphs of Jordan’s NASCAR and NBA teams are vastly different. Hornets, since his $300 Million majority stake takeover in 2010, is yet to establish themselves as championship contenders. Their best results so far are a couple of playoff appearances. 23XI, on the other hand, overachieved for a team as young as them in NASCAR in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. They have established themselves as a potential title contender in the near future.

In monetary terms, Hornets is worth $1.7 Billion and will yield Jordon 600% profit if he decides to sell his majority stakes. No NASCAR team has Billion dollar valuations, and 23XI is no different. They are reportedly worth $150 Million and are among the highest-valued teams. But the difference in Jordon’s involvement in the teams is what makes one potentially more valuable than the other.

Jordan’s 1996 NBA championship-winning teammate John Salley claimed in 2021 that 23XI is a better investment for Jordon. He said, “But when it comes to NASCAR, you know you get a guy who’s been doing, what do you call go-karts since he was a little kid, that’s the guy you want on your squad you want…I feel good for him that he stayed in the sports arena, and this is way better money. I might go in and assist, I call him and say there you go, yeah, we go. Let me get some things done,”.

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John Salley explained why 23XI is the better call for Michael Jordan

Salley pointed out that Jordan’s presence in NASCAR will help the sport, which historically has seen minimal black community representation and diversity initiatives. He also pointed out that having a NASCAR team when Jordan is from Charlotte is common sense.

“Well, one, it helps NASCAR, right, Black Ops NASCAR takes away that look; it shows diversity…For Michael Jordan to be in North Carolina, which you know is, I guess, the mecca for NASCAR, would make sense that not only do you have a team, a basketball team, you should have the biggest sport there is,” said Salley.

The three times NBA champions went on to say that Jordan isn’t as involved with the team as owners such as Mark Cuban, and the team isn’t performing at the top level consistently as well. He said, “He already owns the Hornets; he’s a principal owner. You know that team has done okay. You don’t really see him going to the finals all that often. Just you know,”.

He added that he feels like Jordan owns Hornets for the sake of owning an NBA team and doesn’t necessarily have the attributes to be contenders. Salley said, “it almost like, you know, for Jordan to own a team like that is like I could, you know, he could say he owns an NBA team… It’s just that he’s in North Carolina, and they didn’t have all the attributes they needed to win.”.

He then argued that Jordan knows the community and has grown up involved in it. According to John Salley, it’s better for Jordan to sit around a team that understands his value and how much he has to offer, unlike the Hornets, where his efforts haven’t been fruitful after decades of work. Salley’s words seem to be on point, as while 23XI was creating history in NASCAR, Hornet hasn’t been playoff in the last 5 years. They produced mediocre performances in 21 and 22 and had no major accolades to boast about.

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