NBA Rumors: Michael Jordan texts Steve Clifford coaching tips

May 21, 2013; Charlotte, NC, USA; NBA team owner Michael Jordan announces that the Charlotte Bobcats will change their name and branding to the Charlotte Hornets starting in the 2014 2015 season at Time Warner Cable Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports
May 21, 2013; Charlotte, NC, USA; NBA team owner Michael Jordan announces that the Charlotte Bobcats will change their name and branding to the Charlotte Hornets starting in the 2014 2015 season at Time Warner Cable Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports /
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May 21, 2013; Charlotte, NC, USA; NBA team owner Michael Jordan announces that the Charlotte Bobcats will change their name and branding to the Charlotte Hornets starting in the 2014 2015 season at Time Warner Cable Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports
May 21, 2013; Charlotte, NC, USA; NBA team owner Michael Jordan announces that the Charlotte Bobcats will change their name and branding to the Charlotte Hornets starting in the 2014 2015 season at Time Warner Cable Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports /

Michael Jordan was basketball in the 1990s and many still believe he’s the embodiment of the sport to this day. But while his playing career is over — and being eclipsed by LeBron James — his basketball career isn’t as he’s taken up shop in Charlotte running the Bobcats (soon-to-be Hornet) .

Jordan isn’t the official general manager of the Bobcats but he’s the majority owner and has his fingerprints all over the organization, right down to what the head coach does. According to a Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, Bobcats head coach Steve Clifford admits that Jordan sends him coaching tips on a regular basis but not in the way you’re probably thinking.

“He’ll text me sometimes just with things that he sees. He knows our team,” Clifford said. “I appreciate how he treats me – he gives me suggestions, but he always says, ‘You’re the coach, do what you think.’”

Jordan very well could be a puppet master but he’s tried that in a way before and it resulted in Kwame Brown existing as a professional player. Jordan still runs things in Charlotte — clearly — but even if he’s dropping tips to the head coach of his team, MJ is taking a backseat in a way that is allowing for a positive work environment.