MJ’s perspective changes with team ownership

Tigers apparently can change their stripes.

Ownership of an NBA team will do that to you.

Michael Jordan once was a hawk on all labor matters when he was a player. He famously is remembered by many former players for the way he took the late Washington owner Abe Pollin to task during the 1998 strike.

“If you can’t make a profit, then maybe you should sell your team,” Jordan told Polin.

Now, 13 years later, there’s been a dramatic transformation in Jordan’s perspective.

The New York Times reports that Jordan is among the most bellicose of a group of hardline owners who are determined to hold the line in the player’s share of the basketball-related income.

Jordan, who now serves as managing partner for the Charlotte Bobcats, has a  group includes between 10 and 14 owners sharing his sentiments.

That group wanted the players’ share of the BRI to be more than 47 percent and was extremely upset when negotiators proposed a 50-50 split last month. That group likely isn’t large enough to dictate the owners’ final policy, but it will still hold much influence in shaping how the deal is perceived by the group.

These concerns will be considered during an ownership meeting that will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, six hours  before the players and owners meet again in New York City on Saturday afternoon.

A lot of former players are wondering about Jordan’s dramatic change in attitude over the years.

I’m curious what “His Airness” as a player would say to his alter ego, the small-market supposedly struggling NBA owner, if they ever ran into each other.