Bobcats majority partner Bob Johnson called Thursday night.
This was after the big media conference call to announce His Airness, Michael Jordan, gliding back into North Carolina basketball.
The big Bobcat phoned from Cancun, Mexico, where he’s vacationing with his son.
He said the blockbuster deal really came together a month ago in Chicago.
“We never really stopped talking about collaborating,” Johnson said. “But it really jelled in Chicago” as he and Jordan were hanging out at the House of Blues and dining around town with Jordan’s former teammate, Charles Oakley.
There, beneath the low lights of a plush Chicago restaurant, the NBA’s greatest legend slowly chewed over the offer to come to Charlotte.
“You know what? I think I want to do this,” Jordan told Johnson.
That just left the details to be hammered out.
And one bright spring morning two weeks ago, the two titans sat at Johnson’s breakfast table in Washington with the whole plan mapped out.
“We were eating bacon and eggs,” Johnson said. Jordan stuck out his hand, and the deal was done.
Then M.J. was off to play golf.