Charlotte Hornets

Making the Bobcats

Until 2002, the Charlotte Hornets club was based in Charlotte. However, in recent years, despite the fact that the Hornets showed a good game, the team had one of the lowest attendance in the league. This is largely due to the negative attitude of Charlotte residents to the club owner George Shinn . Sinn himself complained about the lack of VIP lodges in the Charlotte Coliseum and, in the end, delivered an ultimatum to the city: either the city administration would build a new arena at its own expense, or his team would move to another city. The city administration refused Shinn to build the stadium, with the result that the Hornets moved to New Orleans . The NBA approved the relocation of the team, but promised Charlotte that two years later, during the expansion of the league, the city will receive a new team. Several financial groups, including former Boston Celtics star Larry Bird , have announced their desire to become the owners of the new club ^[3] . On December 18, 2002, a group led by Black Entertainment Television founder Robert Johnson was declared the owner of the team. ^[4] Robert Johnson became the first famous African-American - the owner of a professional sports team in the United States ^[5] . Another co-owner of the club was rapper Nelly ^[6] .

Despite unsuccessful attempts in the past to fully sponsor the construction of a new arena, in 2002 the city authorities decided to introduce taxes on hotels and luxury goods to finance the construction of a new arena ^{[7] [8]} .

Choosing a Team Name

In 2003, the Charlotte Regional Sports Commission held a competition called “Help Name The Team” . As part of this competition, the commission reviewed over 1250 names. Among the names sent were those that had to be immediately disqualified. So it was proposed to name the team “Charlotte Sinn Kickers” (from the English Shinn Kickers , “kickers Shinn.” The name is associated with George Shinn, the former owner of the “Hornets”, which had a bad reputation in the city) or “Charlotte Carolinas”.

Among the names that got into the top ten, was the name "Charlotte Cougars" (from the English. Cougars , cougar ). From 1969 to 1974, the Carolina Cougars team from the American Basketball Association played in North Carolina, however, as it turned out, no one remembers this team anymore, so this name had to be abandoned.

The three finalists included the names “Charlotte Bobcats” (from the English Bobcats , red lynx ), “Charlotte Flight” (from the English Flight , flight) and “Charlotte Dragons”. The name Flight has become popular because many North Carolina residents are proud of their Charlotte Douglas airport , and also because the Wright brothers made their first flight to North Carolina. There are also many military bases in North Carolina that make a significant contribution to the state budget. However, this name had to be abandoned because the United States already had the Huntsville Flight basketball team in the NBA Development League . Also, the war in Iraq at that time had a negative impact on this name.

Of the two remaining names, the Bobcats became the leader. Although in the USA more than 10 amateur teams are called “Bobcats”, this name has never been taken by any professional club from the main sports leagues of the USA. According to the North Carolina Wildlife Commission, lynxes are survival experts, athletic and ferocious predators living in Carolina ^[9] . It was also rumored that "Bob" was associated with the name of the team owner, Robert "Bob" Jones. In addition, the Carolina Panthers National Football League team was already in Charlotte, so choosing a cat-related name was reasonable ^[10] . Thus, in June 2003, it was announced that the new team would be called “Charlotte Bobcats” ^[11] .

2004-2006: The First Years

On June 22, 2004, the expansion draft took place, at which the Bobcats chose both experienced players such as Predrag Drobnyak and young players such as Sacramento Kings forward Gerald Wallace ^[12] . The team also traded Los Angeles Clippers for their second choice in the 2004 draft, which they then used to select Emeka Okafor , a center from Connecticut. Subsequently, Okafor became the Rookie of the Year 2005 ^[13] .

The Bobcats played their first game on November 4, 2004. In a meeting with the Washington Wizards , the Bobcats lost 103–96 ^[14] . Two days later, they won their first game in history, defeating the Orlando Magic with a score of 111-100 ^[15] . In their first game at the Bobcats home court, they beat New Orleans Hornets in an over-time with a score of 94-93. In general, the team spent the first season weakly, having won 18 times with 64 defeats, and took 4th place in the division, beating only the Atlanta Hawks . During the 2005 NBA draft, the Bobcats selected two players from the University of North Carolina - Raymond Felton and Sean May . With these two new players and Okafor, the team hoped to create a young and solid foundation for future seasons. The 2005/06 season, the Bobcats finished with a score of 26-56, which was only slightly better than the previous one. During the 2006 draft, the team selected Adam Morrison under the third draft number.

On June 15, 2006, the Bobcats announced that NBA legend and North Carolina native Michael Jordan had bought a minority stake in the team. As part of the deal, Jordan became the head of the basketball operations team ^[16] . After Jordan became one of the owners of the club, many believed that the performance of the team would improve. However, despite the rather strong game and victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs championship leaders, the November Bobcats finished with a score of 4-11. After the New Year, the situation improved slightly, although the team still played poorly in away games. The club finished the season with a score of 33-49 ^[17] .

On March 13, 2007, Jordan announced that head coach Bernie Bickerstaff , who had led the team for three seasons, would be fired at the end of the season. The candidates for this position were Stan Van Gundy , Paul Silas , Herb Williams and Mike Fratello . Two months later, it was announced that Sam Vincent , a former assistant coach at Dallas Mavericks , would be head coach. ^[18]

2007: Failure Season

During the offseason, Rod Higgins , who held the same position at Golden State Warriors , was hired for the post of general manager ^[19] . Phil Ford ^[20] and Buzz Peterson , who was hired from Carolina Coastal University , where he worked as the head basketball coach, also joined the coaching staff.

During the 2007 draft, Brandan Wright was selected at number 8. He was later traded at the Golden State Warriors for Jason Richardson . Gerald Wallace, leader of the team for points in the 2006/07 season, signed a new six-year contract ^[21] . However, all these permutations did not bring the expected result. The Bobcats started well, winning 6 out of 10 starting matches, but then a losing streak of 6 games followed. By New Year's Eve, the game had improved a bit, but in February the team won just 1 match out of 12. The Bobcats season ended with a score of 32-50 ^[17] . April 26, 2008, after only a year of working with the team, Vincent was fired from his post ^[22] .

2008-2012: Era of Larry Brown

On April 29, 2008, Larry Brown became the new Bobcats head coach ^[23] . Brown, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame , had over 20 years of coaching experience at colleges, the American Basketball Association, and the NBA.

During the 2008 draft, the Bobcats were selected under the 9th number of DJ Jay Augustine from Texas. In the offseason, the club also signed a new six-year contract worth $ 72 million with Okafor ^[24] . The season the team started with a result of 7-18. To strengthen the team, on December 10, 2008, the “Bobcats” exchanged Jason Richardson, Jardi Dudley and their right to choose Boris Dyao , Raj Bell and Sean Singletari in the second round of the 2010 draft to the Phoenix Suns ^[25] . After some improvement in the game, the club management continued to change the team, and on February 7, 2009 Adam Morrison, who fell out of favor with Brown, was exchanged for Los Angeles Lakers for striker Vladimir Radmanovich ^[26] . During the 2008/09 season, the team came very close to their first playoffs, winning 12 of 17 games in February. However, due to the show jumping competition at the Time Warner Cable Arena, she had to play the last four matches of the season away. So many away games at the end of the season not a single team over the past 12 years ^[27] . As a result, the Bobcats won only 1 of the last 8 games and finished the season with 35 wins, 4 wins less than the 8th place in the conference ^[17] .

During the 2009 draft, the team selected Gerald Henderson from Duke number 12 and Derrick Brown from Xavier under number 12. On July 28, 2009, the Bobcats exchanged Emeka Okafora at New Orleans Hornets for center Tyson Chandler . On November 16, 2009, the Bobcats exchanged Raja Bell and Vladimir Radmanovich at the Golden State Warriors for Stephen Jackson and Acey Law .

On February 18, 2010, the Bobcats acquired heavy forward Tyrus Thomas from the Chicago Bulls , exchanging it for Acey Law , Flip Murray and the right to choose in the first round of the future draft. The team also acquired the center Theo Ratliff .

In June 2009, Johnson announced that he was going to sell the club. The main bidders for the purchase of the team were Jordan and former Houston Rockets president George Postolos . On February 27, 2010, it was announced that Johnson decided to sell the Bobcats to Jordan ^[28] , and on March 17, the NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved the deal ^[29] .

In the 2009/10 season , the Bobcats showed a good game in the home arena, but away they were among the 4 worst league teams in terms of the number of away games won. In the season, the team with a crushing score 104-65 beat Atlanta Hawks (club record), and also set a record for the number of consecutively won games in their history - 6 ^[30] . April 7, 2010, thanks to a decisive three-point shot by DJ Jay Augustine, “Bobcats” beat the “New Orleans Hornets” with a score of 104-103 and for the first time in their six-year history went into the playoffs ^[31] .

In the playoffs, the Orlando Magic team became the rivals for the Bobcats. The Magic ended the season in first place in the Southeast Division (the same division where the Bobcats are playing). During the regular season, these two teams met 4 times, of which Magic won 3 times, and before the start of the playoff games the team from Orlando was the favorite of this series. On April 18, 2010, the Bobcats debut match in the playoffs took place. “Bobcats” lost in the first match with a score of 98–89, and subsequently flew out of the playoffs, losing 4 games in a row ^[32] . The reason for the failure is called the weak game in the attack “Bobcats” ^{[33] [34]} .

The 2009/10 season, the Bobcats finished with a score of 44–38 and set a team record for victories in the regular season 44, which is 9 more victories than the best last season. The overall result for six seasons in the NBA was 188–304 (38.2%).

The 2010/11 season started with the Bobcats with a score of 9-19, which resulted in Jordan firing Brown as head coach and hiring Paul Silas in his place. In winter, the team traded Gerald Wallace at the Portland Trail Blazers for Joel Pjibilla , Sean Marx , Dante Cunningham and the next two picks in the draft. Team Veteran Nazr Mohammed was traded at the Oklahoma City Thunder for JJ White and Mo Petterson . During the season, Stephen Jackson made the club’s first triple double in history. Under the leadership of Silas, the team came up with a result of 25-29, ending the season 34-48, and did not reach the playoffs a bit, losing 3 wins to the 8th place in the Indiana Pacers conference.

In the 2011/12 season, the Bobcats set an NBA record, becoming the worst team in league history in terms of percentage of victories: 7 wins in 66 matches (10.6%) Prior to this season, the Philadelphia Sixers record belonged to 1973: 9 wins in 82 matches (11%).

The Bobcats spent their first season at Charlotte Coliseum . In the offseason of 2005, the Charlotte Bobcats Arena team's new home arena was built. In 2008, the Bobcats sold the arena title to Charlotte's largest cable provider, Time Warner Cable . Under the agreement, in exchange for title rights, Time Warner exempts the Bobcats from a television contract that limited the broadcast of Bobcats games to regional and satellite channels ^[35] .

Attendance at home games “Bobcats” is one of the lowest in the championship and in average attendance has never risen above 22 places. This is due to a rather weak game in the championship (the team did not rise above 4th place in the division) and due to the fact that before the 2009/10 season the team never got into the playoffs. In the 2009/10 season, fan interest in the Bobcats increased, partly because Jordan became the main owner, partly because the team began to play better. In the last season, “Bobcats” set a team record for victories in the regular season, reached the playoffs. One of the leaders and the only player in the team playing in it since the first season, Gerald Wallace took part in the match of all NBA stars . In addition, another local Carolina Panthers team from the National Football League did not qualify for the playoffs ^[36] . In the off-season of 2010, 91% of seasonal subscriptions were renewed and 1,575 new season passes were purchased for the 2010/11 season, which begins in October. The club added 40 more new corporate sponsors to the existing 53 ^[37] .

After Jordan became the main owner, in order to increase the popularity of the team, in each home game two fans began to choose who compete in three-point throws. The winner, and the entire row on which the winner was seated, receive a gift for a pair of branded Air Jordans sneakers, worth $ 170 ^[36] .

Individual Player Rewards

Players in favor of Charlotte Bobcats in italics

Закреплённые номера

^* «Шарлотт Хорнетс» закрепили за Филлисом номер после того, как игрок погиб в автомобильной аварии.

Current squad

For 9 seasons of its existence (until 2013), “Charlotte Bobcats” only once entered the NBA playoffs without winning more than one game in the post-season. The best team wins and losses were 44-38 in the 2009/10 season, the worst result was 7-59 in the 2011/12 season, becoming the worst team in league history in terms of percentage of wins (10.6%).

Statistics adjusted as of the end of the 2012/13 season.

Head coaches

• 2003-2007: Bernie Bickerstaff
• 2007-2008: Sam Vincent
• 2008—2010: Larry Brown
• 2010-2012: Paul Silas
• 2012—2013: Mike Dunlap
• 2013 — present: Steve Clifford

Emblem

The original main emblem of the team was an emblem depicting the profile of a lynx in motion. An alternative emblem was the orange lynx head on a blue-silver basketball. In 2008, a new main emblem was introduced, and the former main emblem began to be used as an alternative. The former alternative logo was no longer used. The new main emblem depicted an orange-blue face of a lynx with a piece of a silver basketball in the right corner. The new emblem was placed in the center of the Time Warner Cable Arena, in the arena design and on the players ’uniforms ^{[38] [39]} . On June 20, 2012, the team changed the coloring of their emblem, in which the main colors were a dark shade of blue and gray colors ^[40] .

Form

The Bobcats home uniform was white with the words “Bobcats” on the chest and orange-blue-black trim. The guest uniform was orange with Charlotte inscription with white, blue and black trim ^[41] . In the offseason of 2006, the Bobcats announced a new alternative form. The uniform was blue with a white Bobcats lettering with black, orange and white trim ^[42] . Before the 2009/10 season, the Bobcats changed their design. The new form became a mixture of the old Charlotte Hornets and Bobcats colors. The home form became white with a blue Bobcats lettering and an orange and white finish. The guest uniform turned blue with a white Charlotte inscription. Both designs include silver curls, such as those in the Hornets uniform ^[43] . In 2012, the club again changed the color scheme of its shape, using more dark blue and gray colors. In the home form, the inscription “Bobcats” was replaced by simply “Cats” ^[40] .

Talisman and Support Group

The team’s mascot is Rufus Lynx, an orange lynx. The Bobcats Support Group “Lady Cats” is one of the most popular in the league. At the Dance Team Bracket 2010 contest, Lady Cats won first place ^[44] .

The team has more than 90 sponsors. The main sponsors of the team are Coca-Cola , Anheuser-Busch InBev , Lowe's , Presbyterian Hospital , Duke Energy . The name of the arena belongs to Time Warner Cable ^[45] .

Before the Bobcat’s first NBA season, Johnson signed an agreement with Time Warner to create Carolinas Sports Entertainment Television (C-SET), a local sports television network. The company featured 60 Bobcats matches in North Carolina, and games were also aired on the Comporium Cable channel in South Carolina . However, later Time Warner transferred the C-SET channel to its digital package in order to try to transfer its customers to its digital services. Time Warner also refused DirecTV and Dish Network to broadcast their programs. As a result, most of western Carolina and those who did not have digital television were left without Bobcats broadcasts.

C-SET went bankrupt on draft day 2005, after which most of the games began to be broadcast on News 14 Carolina , Time Warner Cable's systems news channel, featuring in Charlotte and the Triad and The Research Triangles Triangle ). Thus, residents of South Carolina, eastern and western parts of North Carolina were left without the Bobcats matches. News 14 was also not broadcast on satellite television.

In 2008, the Bobcats signed an agreement with Time Warner Cable, under which TWC receives rights to the arena names, and the Bobcats gets the right to sign a contract with Fox Sports South . The last 5 games of the 2007/08 season and 70 games of the 2008/09 season were broadcast on Fox Sports South and on the SportSouth network in North and South Carolina. The Bobcats are currently broadcast on Fox Sports Carolinas, but only in North Carolina. Restrictions still prohibit broadcasting of games in South Carolina ^[46] .

Some games are broadcast on various television networks in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. ^[47]

• Charlotte Hornets Official Website