Michael Jordan holds press conference

U.S. basketball legend Michael Jordan said here on Thursday that he seeks owning rather than coaching a NBA team.

When asked by Xinhua what his next target was, the five-times NBA Most Valuable Player said: "My next goal is to own a basketball team, buy a basketball team, not coach.

"I don't have the patience for coaching," he added.

Last year, Jordan failed to buy the Milwaukee Bucks and to take a minority stake in the expansion Charlotte Bobcats.

On his first ever visit to China, Jordan was in Beijing to promote his line of clothing.

Michael Jordan holds press conference

The widely beloved basketball star planned to meet Chinese fans and media Wednesday morning, but the hero-worship seemed to go out of control.

Organizers of an outdoor ceremony had to cancel the event "due to security reasons", after some of an estimated crowd of more than one thousand tore down advertising banners and even climbed atop the fence for a better view.

The news of cancellation came as a bolt out of the blue. Some fans burst into tears and hundreds refused to leave the site.

"I'm really disappointed, I suppose it's my only chance to meet Jordan," said an upset man in his 40s, with tears in his eyes. "My longtime dream was shattered to pieces, and hours of waiting ended for nothing," he added.

It reminded a similar scene here three years ago, when some 1,000 mostly young fans loudly protested the cancellation of a planned meeting with Chinese fans by NBA star Bryant Kobe, obviously for safety reasons.

Jordan, who guided the Chicago Bulls to six National Basketball Association titles, is to leave for Hong Kong on Friday and he will visit Taipei on Saturday, before finishing his tour in Tokyo on Sunday.

Source: Xinhua