The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). [1] The Hornets were first established in 1988 as an expansion team, but relocated to New Orleans following the 2001–02 season. [2] In 2004, a new expansion team, the Charlotte Bobcats, was established. [3] After 10 seasons as the Bobcats, the team changed its name to the Charlotte Hornets for the 2014–15 season, a year after the New Orleans franchise relinquished the Hornets name and renamed itself the Pelicans. [4] [5] In addition to re-inheriting the Hornets name from New Orleans, the Charlotte franchise reclaimed the history and records of the original 1988–2002 Hornets, effectively becoming a continuation of the original franchise. [6]
The Hornets have played their home games at the Spectrum Center, formerly known as the Charlotte Bobcats Arena and the Time Warner Cable Arena, since 2005. [7] Their principal owner are Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall, with Eric Church, J Cole, and Michael Jordan holding minority interests. Steve Clifford is the head coach. [8] [9]
As of February 13 of the 2023-24 season, there have been 296 past and current players who have appeared in at least one game for the Hornets franchise. [10] Robert Parish, Vlade Divac, and Alonzo Mourning are the only Hornets to have been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Mourning, Larry Johnson, Glen Rice, Eddie Jones, Baron Davis, Gerald Wallace, LaMelo Ball and Kemba Walker are the only Hornets selected to play in an All-Star Game. Twelve players have received rookie-related honors. Johnson (1991–92), Emeka Okafor (2004–05), and LaMelo Ball [11] (2020-21) have been named Rookie of the Year. Eight Hornets have been selected to the All-Rookie Second Team: Rex Chapman (1988–89), J. R. Reid (1989–90), Raymond Felton (2005–06), Adam Morrison and Wálter Herrmann (2006–07), D. J. Augustin (2008–09), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (2012–13), and Cody Zeller (2013–14). George Zidek, drafted in 1995, was the first foreign-born player to be selected by the Hornets. Kemba Walker is the franchise's all-time leading scorer with 12,009 points, the only player to score more than 10,000 with the franchise. Okafor leads all players in rebounds with 3,516 and Muggsy Bogues leads all players in assists with 5,557.
| † | Denotes players who joined the Hornets through the 1988 Expansion Draft | |||||
| * | Denotes players who joined the Hornets (originally Bobcats) through the 2004 Expansion Draft | |||||
| ^ | Denotes players who are currently on the Hornets roster | |||||
| No | Jersey number | Pos | Position | |||
| G | Guard | F | Forward | C | Center | |
| Pts | Points | Reb | Rebounds | Ast | Assists | |
The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at the Smoothie King Center.
The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at the Spectrum Center.
Chukwuemeka Ndubuisi "Emeka" Okafor is an American former professional basketball player. Okafor attended Bellaire High School in Bellaire, Texas and the University of Connecticut, where in 2004 he won a national championship. In his first season in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 2004–05, Okafor was named Rookie of the Year. He was traded to the New Orleans Hornets in 2009 and was then dealt to the Washington Wizards in 2012. However, a herniated disc in his neck caused Okafor to miss four consecutive seasons from 2013 to 2017 before being medically cleared to play.
Damien Lamont Wilkins is an American former professional basketball player and basketball executive who played in the National Basketball Association for ten seasons. He is the General Manager and Head of Basketball at Overtime Elite. He is the son of retired 13-year NBA veteran Gerald Wilkins and nephew of nine-time NBA All-Star, Hall of famer Dominique Wilkins.
Bishop Gorman High School is a private Roman Catholic preparatory school located in Las Vegas, Nevada. The school is administered by the Archdiocese of Las Vegas. The school opened in 1954. Its mascot is a Gael, a mounted Irish Knight.
Christopher Emmanuel Paul, nicknamed "CP3" and "the Point God", is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as one of the greatest point guards of all time, he has won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, an NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award, two Olympic gold medals, and led the NBA in assists five times and steals a record six times. Paul has also been selected to 12 NBA All-Star teams, 11 All-NBA teams, and nine NBA All-Defensive teams. In 2021, he was selected to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. Paul also served as the president of the National Basketball Players Association from 2013 to 2021. Among the highest-paid athletes in the world, he holds endorsement deals with companies such as Jordan Brand and State Farm.
The 2012 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2012, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time, and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. The New Orleans Hornets, who had a 13.70 percent probability of obtaining the first selection, won the NBA draft lottery on May 30. The Charlotte Bobcats and the Washington Wizards were second and third, respectively. This draft marked the first time that the first two players selected were from the same school. It also set a record of having six players from one school (Kentucky) being selected in the two rounds of the draft and was the first draft to have the first three selections be college freshmen all from the same conference. Bernard James was the oldest player drafted in an NBA draft, being 27 years old at the time of the draft.
Jeremy Emmanuel Lamb is an American professional basketball player for the Stockton Kings of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the UConn Huskies. As a freshman, he was the second-leading scorer on the 2011 national champion UConn Huskies team.
Jeffery Matthew Taylor is a Swedish-American professional basketball player for BC Wolves of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL). He played college basketball for Vanderbilt University, before being drafted 31st overall by the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2012 NBA draft.
Brian Lloyd Roberts is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the University of Dayton. At a height of 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall, he plays at the point guard position.
Bojan Dubljević is a Montenegrin professional basketball player for Casademont Zaragoza of the Liga ACB. He also represents the senior Montenegrin national basketball team in national team competitions. Standing at 2.05 m tall barefoot, he plays at the power forward and center positions.
Within two weeks, the Charlotte franchise plans to flip the switch and become the Hornets, adopting the nickname used by the city's original pro basketball team from 1988 to 2002.
FIBA Player Camp
