How could a shift in ownership help out the Chicago Bulls if it involves the former Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant?
The current ownership in place for the Chicago Bulls usually catches a lot of criticism, a good portion of which is pretty warranted. Between years upon years of whiffs in free agency, to not conducting reasonable coaching searches, and keeping a handful of front office executives around entirely too long, Jerry Reinsdorf can’t be the most popular owner in the NBA.
According to a piece from NBC Sports, the former Los Angeles Lakers all-time great shooting guard and almost a guaranteed NBA Hall-of-Famer Kobe Bryant gave his take on potentially owning a team sometime in the future.
But Bryant tried to avoid that hot button topic by saying to the reporter: “I’ll let you answer that question because I don’t want to get myself into hot water yet.”
Since Kobe hasn’t stuck around in headlines all the time by his own doing since he retired from the NBA at the end of the 2015-16 regular season, this isn’t a surprising take from him. Mostly he still discusses his play on the court and his views on the NBA in general when he speaks with the media since he retired in 2016.
But it wasn’t all that long ago when the Bulls were involved in talks to nab Kobe from a struggling Lakers team at the time. That was back in 2007. The Bulls were just shy of pulling off the trade and they wound up getting former superstar point guard Derrick Rose one year later with the first overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.
Kobe hinted ever so slightly at having a good level of interest in purchasing a professional sports franchise late last week when he was interviewed on NBC with business partner Jeff Stibel.
However, with this rumor swirling in the media regarding Kobe’s interest in NBA ownership, what would it be like in an alternate reality for him to be in the Bulls management system?
Since the Bulls fan base is not high on the Reinsdorf family at all, bringing in Kobe as the owner might be viewed in a positive light by many. Just a shake up within the organization from the top down would be a welcome change in the Windy City.
The constant complaints this fan base has about the decisions made by John Paxson and Gar Forman (e.g. giving a three-year contract extension to head coach Jim Boylen), could go away with new blood in ownership. It does feel like the two sports franchises the Reinsdorfs own in the city of Chicago have similar issues that arise often.
The Chicago White Sox haven’t been contenders in the MLB in a long time and are now overshadowed by their crosstown rival, the Chicago Cubs.
The fact that NBA superstars are almost never attracted to coming to the Bulls through free agency hints at some level of turmoil and dysfunction in the front office. Could new faces in ownership change that vibe around the NBA?
It is hard to imagine that many former NBA superstars would connect better with supporting a shift in that perception than the “Black Mamba”.
If Kobe is legitimately interested in owning an NBA franchise, he might start a bit smaller than a big market team like the Bulls. It would also take a gigantic amount of money to purchase an NBA franchise like the Bulls at this point in time. It might only get more expensive from here too.
A more favorable image around the NBA and a more functional front office and coaching staff system would be a great shift for the Bulls. But even if Kobe was interested in pursuing NBA ownership at any point in the near future, the Bulls might not be the greatest start.
Nonetheless, it would more than likely have a more popular opinion in the Windy City for Kobe to own the Bulls than the likes of Jerry Reinsdorf and his family.