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. Since 2014, the NBA officially considers New Orleans as an expansion team that began play in the 2002–03 season.
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 in Uptown Charlotte.
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.
Tyrone Curtis "Muggsy" Bogues is an American former basketball player. The shortest player ever to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA), the 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) Bogues played point guard for four teams during his 14-season career in the NBA. Although best known for his ten seasons with the Charlotte Hornets, he also played for the Washington Bullets, Golden State Warriors, and Toronto Raptors.
Marvin Gaye Williams Jr. is an American former professional basketball player. He played one season of college basketball for North Carolina before being drafted second overall by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2005 NBA draft.
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.
Gary Neal is an American basketball coach and former professional player. He played college basketball at La Salle University and Towson University. He began his professional career abroad with teams in Turkey, Spain and Italy before signing with the San Antonio Spurs in 2010. He mostly played the shooting guard position.
The 1988–89 Charlotte Hornets season was Charlotte's inaugural season in the National Basketball Association. The "Charlotte Hornets", along with the Miami Heat, began play as expansion teams during the 1988–89 season; the team was originally going to be named the "Spirit", but later on changed it to the "Hornets". The team revealed a new primary logo of a hornet bouncing a basketball, and got new pinstripe uniforms, adding teal and purple to their color scheme.
The 2001–02 NBA season was the fourteenth and final season for the original Charlotte Hornets in the National Basketball Association. During the off-season, the Hornets acquired George Lynch and Robert Traylor from the Philadelphia 76ers in a three-team trade, and signed free agents Stacey Augmon, Bryce Drew and three-point specialist Matt Bullard. The Hornets struggled playing around .500 in the first half of the season, holding a 23–25 record at the All-Star break. Jamal Mashburn only played just 40 games due to a lower abdominal strain, and was replaced with second-year forward Lee Nailon as the team's starting small forward. Despite losing Mashburn, the Hornets posted a 7-game winning streak in March, and finished the season second in the Central Division with a 44–38 record, and qualified for their third straight playoff appearance.
The 2000–01 NBA season was the thirteenth season for the Charlotte Hornets in the National Basketball Association. During the off-season, the Hornets acquired Jamal Mashburn, P.J. Brown and Otis Thorpe from the Miami Heat, and re-signed free agent Hersey Hawkins. The team won four of their first five games, then lost five straight, but then went on a six-game winning streak. The team posted two 7-game winning streaks in December, and between February and March, and held a 26–25 record at the All-Star break. The Hornets finished the season third in the Central Division with a 46–36 record, and qualified for their sixth Playoff appearance.
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.
Findlay Prep is a former high school basketball program located in Henderson, Nevada. The program was created in 2006 by local businessman Cliff Findlay, who owns several car dealerships in the Las Vegas area. Despite closing its high school in 2010 due to the local economic downturn, the Findlay Prep players took high school classes at Henderson International School. Findlay was part of the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA), but they were ineligible to compete in state championships due to the fact that they were allowed to recruit from outside the state. Instead, they competed for National High School Invitational (NHSI) championships, an 8 team tournament featuring the top high school teams in the country played in New York. They won a total of 3 national championships during their time, coming in 2009, 2010, and 2012, all under Mike Peck. Through the years, Findlay has produced 17 NBA players and over 70 Division I athletes. The program produced several international players as well from countries like Lithuania, Senegal, Canada, France, Georgia, and others. They had an all-time record of 381–43 (.899), with only 2 losses ever on their home court.
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 Zenit Saint Petersburg of the VTB United League. 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.
Noah Vonleh is an American professional basketball player for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for the Indiana Hoosiers.
Samuel Peterson "P. J." Hairston Jr. is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the University of North Carolina. He finished his sophomore season in 2013 and was eligible for the 2014 NBA draft. He was selected with the 26th overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft by the Miami Heat, and was later traded to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Shabazz Napier.
The history of the National Basketball Association's Charlotte Hornets dates to 1985 when founder George Shinn first thought of bringing professional basketball to Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets commenced play as an expansion team in 1988. After fourteen seasons under its original ownership, the franchise suspended operations in 2002 when Shinn transferred the basketball organization under his control to a new franchise in New Orleans. The Charlotte franchise was subsequently acquired, reactivated and renamed the Bobcats by Robert L. Johnson. After restocking its roster through their second expansion draft, the team resumed play in 2004. Johnson sold controlling interest to Hall of Fame legend and North Carolinian native Michael Jordan in 2010. Jordan, who restored the club's original name in 2014, sold the team to group led by Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin in 2023. The franchise has reached the postseason twelve times and made ten playoff appearances, although as of 2024 they are the oldest club in all of North American major professional sports to have never won a division championship.
Mangok Mathiang is a South Sudanese-Australian professional basketball player who last played for the New Zealand Breakers of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for the University of Louisville.
Joseph Emmanuel Chealey is an American professional basketball player for Hapoel Eilat of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He played college basketball for College of Charleston located in South Carolina. He was born in Orlando, Florida where he grew up and went to Apopka High School.
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
