Several investors contacted this week say they have yet to learn whether they will retain their shares under Jordan’s ownership group. Johnson is believed to have owned 70 percent to 80 percent of the franchise at the time of the sale, up from the 65 percent he possessed in 2004. At that time, Johnson hoped to sell off as much as 49 percent of the club. Instead, as deficits piled up, minority partners declined to participate in capital calls, and Johnson accrued more and more shares in the team.

Reducing those losses will take time and effort, experts say. Outside factors also will play a role. Those include an anticipated showdown between owners and players as they negotiate a collective bargaining agreement set to expire next year.

Venture capitalist Nelson Schwab, Nascar team owner Felix Sabates, and retired Bank of America Corp. chairman Hugh McColl Jr. are among the investors who say they are uncertain whether they will be kept on as minority partners. Sabates, who was also part of the Charlotte Hornets ownership group, says it is normal for the minority investors not to hear anything until a sale is completed.

McColl and Schwab, who recruited Johnson in an unsuccessful bid to buy the Hornets in 2002 and later to back the replacement expansion franchise that became the Bobcats, both believe Jordan can turn the franchise around. Charlotte ranks in the bottom third of the 30-team NBA in attendance and has yet to post a winning season since entering the league in 2004. That could change soon, as the Bobcats are contending for a playoff berth this season.

“There’s a different feeling about Michael than there was about Bob,” says Johnny Harris, a prominent local real estate executive who is not part of the Bobcats ownership group. “And I think there’s a different understanding of Charlotte and the Carolinas from Michael than Bob had. He’s one of ours.”

Jordan maintains his primary residence in Chicago but grew up in Wilmington. He led the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to an NCAA championship in 1982 before going on to the NBA and winning six championships with the Chicago Bulls.

For the Bobcats and Jordan to succeed, local expectations must be realistic, other investors believe. Jordan is unlikely to make Charlotte his home base, and he will continue to have interests elsewhere.

“Having said that, I think he’s determined to make this a very successful franchise,” Schwab says. “The expectation that we would see him shopping every day at Harris Teeter—that isn’t going to happen. It’s not bad. It’s just different.”

Longtime NBA executives point to Jordan as a possible savior for Charlotte’s basketball fortunes. The Hornets established the city as a hoops hotbed, selling the most tickets in the league for the better part of a decade before a range of controversies led the franchise to relocate to New Orleans. Johnson followed as the Bobcats owner. “Unfortunately, I don’t think it got off to a good start,” says Jerry Colaneglo, former owner of the Phoenix Suns and current director of USA Basketball. “And then (it went) from bad to worse. Hopefully, this is a rebirth for the franchise with Michael’s presence.”

Most of the business leaders contacted this week praised Jordan for installing Whitfield as the team’s top executive several years ago. During Whitfield’s tenure, the Bobcats have negotiated a corporate naming-rights agreement for the arena, secured a vastly improved TV contract, and offered a mix of perks and discounts aimed at wooing fans. Attendance and ticket sales remain sluggish, but investors and others say Whitfield has put the franchise in position to capitalize once the Bobcats become a consistent contender.

Still, some concerns remain.

McColl, the retired BofA executive, says Jordan could breathe new life into the franchise, but first must make some adjustments in how the team is promoted.

“I would change the feel in the venue,” he says. “I would change it 100 percent. It may feel like L.A. or New York or whatever, but it doesn’t feel like Charlotte. I would make it feel more like Charlotte.”