Robert Johnson, the billionaire founder of Black Entertainment Television, has been chosen as owner of the NBA’s new Charlotte expansion franchise.
The league scheduled a news conference Wednesday in New York.
Johnson became the league’s first black majority owner. Bertram Lee and Peter Bynoe were thought to be the league’s first black ownership in 1989 when they purchased the Denver Nuggets, but it was later learned that Comsat Video actually owns 62.5 percent of the team.
Johnson and the other group seeking the team, headed by Boston businessman Steve Belkin and Celtics great Larry Bird, made presentations to the league’s expansion committee.