Jordan needs to join N.C. Hall

If you haven’t been to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, you are missing something.

Just stop by the Museum of History in Raleigh, right across from the Legislature, and it is in a wing upstairs. There are banners and jerseys and plenty of history about sports in our state.

But something is missing from the Hall. You can punch a button and see video of Michael Jordan hitting that jump shot against Georgetown, but you can’t see a display on Jordan himself.

The reason?

Michael Jordan is not in this Hall.

And it is time that he is.

The Hall does not admit you until you agree to come to its banquet and induction ceremonies. Jordan has an open invitation, but so far, has not decided to show.

“If you care enough about being in it, you care enough to show up,” said Don Fish, executive director of the Hall. “I don’t think that will ever change.”

And while that might sound a bit stubborn, the fact that Roy Williams, Curley Neal, Richard Childress, Tom Butters, Leo Hart and three others were together last Thursday was a resounding reminder of what being in the Hall should mean. Every one at the news conference sounded genuinely proud to join this wing of the museum.

It should mean something to Jordan, too.

His absence was excusable in past years. He was competing in the playoffs, or playing baseball, or out getting his NBA executive career going.

But now, Jordan is a part owner of the NBA team in Charlotte, and he is virtually an absentee owner at that. Jordan swooped into town from Chicago for the introduction of Larry Brown as the new head coach, but Jordan is rarely a public figure now in his home state.

To be fair, Jordan has done more than his share of personal appearances in his career, and he is a class act who takes the public nature of his life seriously. I have dealt with him many times and admired his patience in the face of limitless questions.

No one could blame him for tiring of the spotlight.

But Jordan is in a new role now, as an NBA owner looking for his state to embrace his team. The absentee nature of his tenure with the Bobcats so far strikes me as odd. If he wants North Carolinians to embrace his team while he remains at a distance, then, well, good luck.