The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional team located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Charlotte Hornets compete in the Eastern Conference Southeast Division of the National Basketball Association. While they are not outright owned by a single person at the moment, they are mainly owned by Michael Jordan who spent his college career and really made a name for himself while playing for the North Carolina Tar Heels. The Charlotte Hornets play their home games at Spectrum Center.
Origin
In 1985, the National Basketball Association only consisted of twenty-three teams and the league made plans to expand by four teams by the beginning of the 1998-1999 season. George Shinn who is a North Carolina native brought together a group of investors and buyers to bring an NBA team to Charlotte.
The league also thought that this would be a very smart move as North Carolina had a very loyal fanbase to their college basketball teams. With reason to believe that it was a profitable area paired with there being a handful of individuals ready to provide the funds to get the team started, the NBA board made the decision to bring an NBA franchise to Charlotte, North Carolina.
While there were a lot of things going on for the Charlotte area, there were a few skeptics. Many thought that Charlotte was too invested in their banking around the area and thought the team would not really catch on there. However, Shinn already had a place lined up where the Hornets could play their games, the Charlotte Coliseum.
They were the twenty-fourth franchise added to the NBA and the first expansion team out of the batch of four that would make their way into the NBA. In the next few years, an NBA franchise was also given to Miami, Minneapolis Saint-Paul, and Orlando.
How did the Charlotte Hornets get their name?
The original name for the team was going to be the Charlotte Spirit. However, the name, Charlotte Spirit was scrapped and the team instead ran a name the team contest. The name of the team contest allowed fans to vote for the new team name that they liked the most. The results of the name the team contest resulted in Charlotte officially being known as the Charlotte Hornets. The name came from Charlotte’s fierce resistance in the Revolutionary War. A British general was quoted as saying the city was a veritable hornet’s nest of rebellion.
The new uniforms for the Hornets sports team would end up being revolutionary and a huge inspiration for other NBA uniforms across the league. The main things that these uniforms brought in were the teal color and they were the first NBA jerseys to include pinstripes. Another interesting piece about the jerseys is that they were created by North Carolina native Alexander Julian.
The team brought in Carl Scheer to be the teams’ general manager. He came in with a plan to contend immediately. This is something that is very difficult to pull off, especially for an expansion team. Due to this strategy, Scheer set out to bring in a veteran roster through the expansion draft rather than starting the franchise off with young pieces that they could build upon. Although this is an out-of-the-box strategy, if it is pulled off correctly, it is possible. Scheer made it a major goal for the franchise to at least make the playoffs in their first five seasons.
Beginning Seasons
In their first season in the NBA, the Charlotte Hornets were led by Kelly Tripuka who carried the Hornets’ offense through their first two seasons in the league (leading the team in scoring their first two years). Along with this, the roster also featured Rex Chapman (their first draft selection as a franchise) who was a sharpshooter, and Mugsy Bouges who was their point guard and main facilitator, and distributor. Bouges is also the shortest player in the entire NBA history, only standing at 5’3″.
The inaugural game took place at Charlotte Coliseum where they were defeated by the Cleveland Cavaliers by a final score of 133-93. Although this was a blowout, the Cavs were one of the better NBA teams in the league at this time and with the Hornets players never taking the court together before that game, it was more or less expected that they would be blown out. They were able to notch their first win as a franchise just four days later against the Los Angeles Clippers by a final score of 117-105.
Some other important things that took place that season were the Hornets spoiling Jordan’s homecoming to North Carolina. His Airness had not played in the state since his final game in college. Many believed that the Bulls would blowout the Hornets, however, they took down one of the top teams in the league by a final score of 103-101.
Along with this, Tripuka had an incredible scoring season. This included two games in which he scored over forty points. Finally, many critics of the Hornets coming into the league believed that their arena was far too big for the city, no one would come out to the games, and they would have no chance of ever selling it out. Despite this, the Hornets would have the best attendance in the league that year and would also lead the league in attendance seven more times during their time in Charlotte. In fact, the Charlotte Hornets would end up selling out 364 straight games which equate to almost nine straight seasons.
The team would struggle through the following two seasons and there were only four major events that would happen. The first is a coaching change that would occur in the middle of the teams’ second season. The second is that the Hornets hosted the All-Star game in 1991. Third, they drafted Kendall Gill onto the team. Finally, a general manager change was made as well before Scheer was able to see his five-year plan through to completion.
Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning Era
Have the Charlotte Hornets had a Rookie of the Year?
Things began to turn around for the Charlotte Hornets in the 1991 draft. With the first overall pick, the Hornets selected Larry Johnson from the University of Nevada. Johnson made an immediate impact on the team and pulled them out of the gutter. He was near the top of the league in both points and rebounds. Along with this, he brought home the 1992 Rookie of the Year award. Kendall Gill led the team in scoring this season with around 20 points per game. Although they missed the playoffs once again this season, things were still looking up for the Charlotte Hornets.
The Hornets once again had a great draft pick. This year, they solidified their frontcourt of the future adding Alonzo Mourning to the team. With a duo of Johnson and Mourning, they now had two players that could average twenty points and ten rebounds for a season. This made the Hornets a very difficult team to beat as floor spacing was not too important during this era and no one had thought about trying a quicker small-ball lineup. Mourning, just like Johnson, had an immediate impact in his first year on the Hornets.
With this elite frontcourt, they finally made their first playoff appearance in franchise history. This was also the first winning season that the Hornets had up to that point. They finished as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and even pulled off a first-round upset against the Boston Celtics. However, they were bounced in the second round by the New York Knicks in a five-game series.
With the splash that they made in the playoffs in the previous season, many thought that the Charlotte Hornets would be able to replicate it and be a real playoff threat. This did not end up panning out and the Hornets had a letdown of a season. This was mainly due to both Johnson and Mourning missing time due to injuries. Despite this, they still finished with a respectable 41-41 record, however, they still narrowly missed the playoffs. In the following season, the Hornets remained healthy and once again put together a very solid season. They finished with a record of 50-32 and as they did in the previous season, Johnson and Mourning led the team in points and rebounds per game. Charlotte would end up being knocked out of the playoffs in the first round in a sweep by the Chicago Bulls.
Glen Rice Era
After this season, they would trade Mourning to the Miami Heat for Glenn Rice, Matt Geiger, and Khalid Reeves. This move was made as the Hornets needed some help on the wing and they figured that Johnson would be able to hold it down in the frontcourt. Having both on the team was becoming a bit of redundancy when there was a clear hole on the roster at other positions.
Glen Rice would go on to have an immediate impact on the Hornets. He led the team in points per game and took a lot of the scoring load off of Johnson’s shoulders. Kenny Andersen made his first All-Star appearance this season. However, for the second time in franchise history, the Hornets barely missed the playoffs with a 41-41 record. After this season, a coaching change was made and Dave Cowens was brought in.
In this offseason, the Hornets made a move that would end up being one of the worst trade deals in NBA history. While it did not seem like a lopsided deal at all at the time, it would end up being something that would set the Hornets back years while changing the course of the league for decades to come. That trade came on draft day when the Hornets sent the draft rights of a young Kobe Bryant to the Los Angeles Lakers for Vlade Divac. Along with this, Andersen refused to resign with the Hornets, and Johnson was traded to the New York Knicks for Anthony Mason.
Despite what could have been for the Hornets, they still had a good season. The new-look Hornets had their best record in franchise history with a record of 54-28 and made another trip to the playoffs. This season, Rice finished third in the league in scoring and was also named the All-Star Game MVP. The team made the playoffs again in the following season. This was the first time in the teams’ history that the Hornets made the league in back-to-back seasons. They were eventually knocked out of the playoffs in the second round, once again at the hands of the Chicago Bulls.
In the following year, the Hornets traded Glen Rice to the Lakers and in return, they received Eddie Jones and Elden Cambell. Also, Cowens resigned as the head coach halfway through the season. This was a very bad year for the Hornets, however, their misfortune did not last for long.
In the draft after the season, they selected Baron Davis with the third overall pick. He would become the face of the franchise for a fair amount of time. In this season, tragedy would strike the team. Bobby Phillis would pass away in a car accident. To honor him, the Hornets would go on to retire his number 13 jersey that season. Fans began to dislike the team in Charlotte due to the actions of the teams’ owner.
They viewed him as stingy as he continued to trade star after star from the team only because he did not want to pay their market value. Along with this, Michael Jordan was interested in becoming a partial owner of the team, however, the owner refused to give Jordan control over basketball operations.
With Jordan still being a legend in Charlotte, this is something that greatly upset the fans. Jordan would go on to become involved with the Washington Wizards and he would eventually play for the Wizards to make them a better team and in turn more valuable. There is a great chance that if the owner of the Hornets would not have been so stuck in his ways, he would have even played for and ended his career with the Hornets.
The Hornets made the playoffs in the 2000-2001 season with Jamal Mashburn and P.J. Brown being added to the team. They knocked off the third-seeded Miami Heat in the first round but were bounced in the second round by the Milwaukee Bucks in seven games. In the following season, they beat the Orlando Magic in the first round but were bounced by the New Jersey Nets in five games. This year, the Hornets finished 29th in attendance and it was clear that fans were over the owner and his antics.
After this season the NBA approved the Hornets to move from Charlotte to New Orleans.
New Orleans Hornets
Things soured quickly in Charlotte. While the fans were still into the team and professional basketball, they had so much hatred for the team’s owner they took it out on him by not going to the games. They had every reason to do this as well far much worse than how he managed the team and the situation than Michael Jordan, he was also accused of raping a Charlotte woman in 1997. It was made very clear by the leadership in Charlotte that they would not build a stadium for a team that was owned by him. As a result, he was given an ultimatum of either selling the team or his team would have nowhere to play. However, he found a workaround and moved his team to New Orleans.
Are the Charlotte Hornets and Bobcats the same?
To keep both sides happy, the NBA promised that the Hornets would get a new expansion team once the Hornets moved to New Orleans. The old Hornets would eventually become the Pelicans and the Hornets would become the Bobcats.
Charlotte Bobcats
A group led by Robert L. Johnson (President of BET) bought the franchise and this made him the first African American majority owner in the history of the league and all professional sports. Also, the rapper Nelly was a part of the group that purchased the team. In 2003, there was another naming contest for the team. They were originally going to name the team the Charlotte Flight, however, that name was found to be too abstract and they went with the Bobcats.
A series of bad front office moves would not do the expansion franchise any favors and would make them one of the worst teams in the league for years. They traded for the second overall pick from the Los Angeles Clippers. They went on to use that pick to select Emeka Okafor who would end up being a bust.
How much of the Charlotte Hornets Does Michael Jordan own?
After their second season, it was announced that Michael Jordan would finally become a part of the owners’ group. He became a majority owner (currently at 89.5%) in 2010 but would become a part of the group in 2006. Nothing major would happen for the franchise until they selected Jason Richardson in the 2007 draft.
In the 2008 season, the Bobcats brought in Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown to try to resolve the dumpster fire they had on their hands. However, in the 2008 season, they traded Richardson and Jared Dudley to the Phoenix Suns for Boris Diaw and Raja Bell. In the next season, Johnson put the team up for sale, drafted Gerald Henderson, traded Okafor for Tyson Chandler from the New Orleans Hornets, and acquired Stephen Jackson and Acie Law from the Golden State Warriors.
In 2010, the Bobcats had a season that consisted of injuries and departures from some key players.
In 2011, with all the moves things would begin to look up for the Bobcats and they made the playoffs for the first time since returning. Along with this, Gerald Wallace was named to the All-Star team. Things would go south quickly for the team and in the following season, they went into rebuilding mode. In the 2011 draft, they got Kemba Walker. However, an undersized rookie point guard is unable to carry a franchise. As a result of this, they finished the season only winning seven games.
2012 was another dud of the year. Despite the team having a high lottery pick, they used it on Michael Kidd Gilchrist who never ended up really working out in the NBA.
Return of the Hornets
In 2014, Jordan announced that the team would once again be named the Charlotte Hornets. They also got to retain the history of the 1988-2002 Hornets. Until recently, the Hornets really were not able to get things together as they missed time after time in the draft despite having high draft picks. As a result of this Kemba Walker was stuck as being the only relevant player on the team for years until he would eventually leave the team in the form of a trade.
How the Team Looks Today
Today, things are finally beginning to look up for the Hornets. After drafting LaMelo Ball, they have what appears to be a future superstar on their hands. Along with this, they have surrounded him with a very talented young core. While their time to contend a championship has not quite hit yet, they are a team to keep an eye on in the following few seasons. If they are able to pair a big name on the Hornets with Ball in the form of a free agency signing, they could make a real run at a deep playoff run in the near future.
