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NBA Notes: Ratings Are Up, Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan

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It feels like the early 90's. NBA ratings are up (despite the lockout) and Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan are in the news.

Lockout-shortened NBA season produces banner TV ratings

The latest evidence that fans are not turned off when there's a work stoppage in pro sports: The NBA is finishing its lockout-shortened season with banner TV ratings. ABC's games are averaging 3.3% of U.S. TV households, up 10% from last year. ESPN, despite a scrambled schedule that put NBA games in time slots where they hadn't previously aired, is averaging 1.3%. That's even with last year, when ESPN's NBA games got their best ratings since the network got NBA rights in 2002.

Phil Jackson might be offered a reported $50 million to coach the New York Knicks | Ball Don't Lie - Yahoo! Sports

If the New York Knicks don't advance beyond the first round of the playoffs, I'm hearing they'll make a major — repeat, major — push to lure legendary coach Phil Jackson out of retirement. With money being no object, the scuttlebutt is the Knicks brass may offer the "Zen Master" a four-year, $50 million deal.

Michael Jordan defends Bobcats execs, rebuilding plan, himself | CharlotteObserver.com & The Charlotte Observer Newspaper

Jordan, in an exclusive interview with The Charlotte Observer, responded to criticism from former Bobcats coach Larry Brown, who said Wednesday on Dan Patrick’s nationally syndicated radio show that Jordan’s top advisors "don’t have a clue’’ and made Brown "sick.’’

The Bobcats make most people that watch them sick, but the same could be said for most rebuilding/tanking teams. We'll see how they do with their draft picks and cap space.

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