All of a sudden, Jordan's everywhere

Since becoming the principal owner of the Bobcats, Michael Jordan has been acting more like Mark Cuban than Jerry Reinsdorf.

Rarely visible before, Jordan is now sitting behind the bench at home games, yelling at referees and encouraging his team.

"He's everywhere," Bobcats center Tyson Chandler said. "He's been at practices, every game. It would be OK if it wasn't the greatest player ever sitting next to you. What can you say when you walk over there? There isn't much you can say to him.

"No, it's good. He's been good to me. You would think with his competitive nature and who he is, you would think it may be tough with him right there. But he's been good, he's been nothing but positive in everything he's saying."

Chandler got to know Jordan in 2001, when Jordan was running the Washington Wizards and chose between Chandler and Kwame Brown for the No. 1 draft choice. Brown got the nod, of course, something Jordan is still trying to live down.

Ex-Bull with experience: Bobcats Tyson Chandler could relate to Tyrus Thomas returning to face his old team Saturday.

The Bulls traded Chandler to the Hornets in the summer of 2006. For the record, Chandler had 10 points and 13 rebounds in his first trip to the United Center as a visiting player, but the Bulls won.

"There ain't nothing I can say (to Thomas), because there was nothing nobody could say to me," Chandler said with a smile. "I was so juiced, my veins were probably about to pop out when I came in for the first time.

"I just know it will go incredibly great or horribly wrong. When you come back home, there can't be anything in between."

Johnson rests foot: On the second leg of back-to-back games, rookie forward James Johnson had to sit down because of a sore foot. He's continued to play despite being diagnosed with a partial plantar fascia tear in his right foot, missing just one game before Saturday.

"James has been battling some serious pain and he's just too painful," coach Vinny Del Negro said.

Bull horns: Charlotte's leading scorer, Stephen Jackson, played less than 10 minutes in the second half because of an unspecified injury, which is why Larry Hughes played so much for the Bobcats. - Taj Gibson (14 points, 15 rebounds) collected his seventh double-double in the last nine games.