Bobcats next clippers???

Charlotte Observer: Charlotte Bobcats owner Bob Johnson can't promise that his players will never drive drunk or get into a domestic dispute.

He does guarantee that Charlotte's new NBA team will do everything it can to avoid trouble, and to deal firmly with problems if they do occur. Johnson says that's essential to making his franchise succeed once it debuts in 2004.

"We're challenged by people not willing to tolerate bad-boy behavior and pay $60-$70 (per ticket) to watch it," Johnson told The Observer last week. "They're not going to take that anymore."

Johnson's comments came during a month in which six NBA players either were arrested, pleaded guilty to a crime or received a league suspension. In the highest-profile incidents, Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant was charged with sexual assault in Colorado on Friday and Sacramento King Chris Webber admitted to lying to a grand jury about payments he received from a University of Michigan booster.

Asked if he'd cut a player -- and pay off a guaranteed contract -- to rid the team of a chronic troublemaker, Johnson said: "My primary focus is the brand. And the brand is the Charlotte Bobcats being good corporate citizens in Charlotte. ... There's no individual player above the brand."