In a lengthy piece about the Charlotte Bobcats, Henry Abbott aka The Blogfather notes that Portland Trail Blazers President Larry Miller's Nike connections still run deep, as Bobcats President and COO Fred Whitfield is also a former Brand Jordan executive.

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"Michael bought the team and came in and became very involved and engaged with our entire staff," says Whitfield. "Going to sales meetings and setting high goals with big incentives. He has been hands on in every part of this organization. He has been willing to meet with Pete and I with sponsors -- either to help us open the door to get the dialogue going, and he sat in on a couple that we needed a little help to close. He assisted us in some ticket renewal initiatives with major sponsors too."

Like Blazer president Larry Miller, Whitfield is a former Brand Jordan executive who finds himself trying to apply the lessons of Phil Knight and company in an NBA team setting. Whitfield and Miller worked at Brand Jordan together, and left to run NBA teams within months of each other. Whitfield's senior staff has twice visited the Blazers to share best practices. "I told our staff that the Bobcats a year ago were where the Blazers were five years ago," says Whitfield.
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-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter