59 Fun Facts About Charlotte Hornets

What name did the Hornets' uptown Charlotte arena take in 2016?

Spectrum Center took its name from Charter Communications' consumer brand after Charter absorbed the arena's previous naming-rights sponsor; the building had opened in 2005 as Charlotte Bobcats Arena.

Which four-time champion with the Showtime Lakers joined the expansion Hornets in 1988?

Kurt Rambis swapped the champion Lakers for a brand-new team, and after the Hornets' first win, over the Clippers, said he had never before joined a crowd in chanting 'Beat L.A.'

Who was the founding owner who brought the Hornets to Charlotte?

George Shinn worked as a janitor to pay his way through business college, then bought the school and built a chain of them before landing the franchise he owned until it left Charlotte.

Which name was originally planned for the expansion team before a contest produced 'Hornets'?

The club was to be called the Charlotte Spirit until a fan name-the-team contest chose 'Hornets', a nod to the city's Revolutionary War nickname.

The 'Hornets' name recalls a remark that legend attributes to which British general after the 1780 Battle of Charlotte?

Cornwallis, whose army briefly occupied Charlotte in 1780, is said to have called it 'a hornet's nest of rebellion', though no record of the remark survives from his own time.

Which North Carolina-born fashion designer created the original Hornets uniforms?

Alexander Julian, a Chapel Hill native behind the Colours menswear label, later gave North Carolina's Tar Heels their argyle basketball uniforms as well.

What design feature did the original Hornets uniforms bring to the NBA for the first time?

Pinstripes had never appeared on an NBA uniform until the Hornets' debut set; the Orlando Magic adopted their own pinstripes the following season.

Which colour did the Hornets choose as their primary colour, sparking a sports fashion craze?

Teal, worn with purple from the first season, sent the expansion Hornets to the top of the NBA's merchandise sales charts, and new teams in other sports were soon dressing in teal too.

Who was the Hornets' first head coach?

Dick Harter, a defence-first coach, clashed with his players and was fired 40 games into the second season with an 8–32 record.

Which team, built around Brad Daugherty and Mark Price, beat the Hornets 133–93 in their first NBA game?

The Cleveland Cavaliers spoiled opening night by 40 points, but only four days later the expansion Hornets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 117–105 for the first win in franchise history.

In which category did the 20–62 expansion Hornets lead the NBA in their first season?

Attendance: the Coliseum was the NBA's biggest arena, with nearly 24,000 seats, and 949,858 fans came that losing first year; the Hornets led the league's gate again every season from 1990–91 to 1996–97.

What fan nickname for the Charlotte Coliseum was later revived for the Hornets' new arena?

The Hive was a fitting name for a building of about 24,000 seats, the biggest in the NBA; it lay unused through the Bobcats years and came back uptown when the Hornets name returned in 2014.

Which UNLV forward, drafted first overall by the Hornets in 1991, was that season's Rookie of the Year?

Larry Johnson became a pop-culture figure as well as a star: he played 'Grandmama', a dunking granny, in Converse commercials and then in an episode of the sitcom Family Matters.

Which Georgetown centre did the Hornets select second overall in 1992?

Alonzo Mourning averaged 21 points and 10 rebounds as a rookie, second only to Shaquille O'Neal in the Rookie of the Year vote, yet Charlotte traded him after three seasons when contract talks broke down.

The Hornets' first-ever playoff series win in 1993 came against which team?

The Boston Celtics went out 3–1, the clincher a 104–103 thriller that proved to be the final game of Celtics great Kevin McHale's career; the Hornets then lost to the Knicks in five.

Which sharpshooter did the Hornets receive in the 1995 trade of their star centre?

Glen Rice averaged 26.8 points in 1996–97, third in the league, and came off the bench at that season's All-Star Game to score 20 in one quarter, then a record, and walk off with the MVP trophy.

Which 1996 draftee did the Hornets pick 13th overall, then trade for centre Vlade Divac?

Kobe Bryant, a 17-year-old straight from high school, never wore a Hornets jersey: Charlotte had agreed to make the pick for the Lakers, and he went on to win five titles in Los Angeles.

Which 5-foot-3 guard, the shortest NBA player ever, ran the Hornets' offense in the 1990s?

Muggsy Bogues was left unprotected by Washington after a single season, so Charlotte claimed him in the expansion draft; he stayed nine years and set the franchise record for career assists.

The Hornets retired the number of which guard after his death in a car accident in Charlotte in 2000?

Bobby Phills, a defensive specialist in his third Hornets season, was 30 when he died in January 2000; his No. 13 was retired within a month and hung in the Coliseum until the team left town.

Which ex-Celtics big man coached the Hornets to their best original-era season, 54–28 in 1996–97?

Dave Cowens, a Hall of Fame centre and 1973 league MVP, took over in 1996 and guided the Hornets to 54 wins before resigning early in the 1999 lockout season.

To which city did the original Hornets relocate in 2002?

New Orleans took in the Hornets after the owner's fight for a new Charlotte arena failed and the crowds thinned; that franchise became the Pelicans in 2013 and handed the original Hornets' records back to Charlotte.

Which BET founder became the first Black majority owner in modern US major pro sports with the 2002 Charlotte franchise?

Robert L. Johnson paid a $300 million expansion fee for the team that became the Bobcats, beating a rival bid fronted by NBA legend Larry Bird, who said he was heartbroken to lose.

Which hip-hop artist bought a minority stake in the Charlotte Bobcats before their first season?

Nelly, the St. Louis rapper, joined the ownership group in July 2004, a few months before the expansion team's first game; the same company owned the WNBA's Charlotte Sting, making him a part-owner there too.

Which UConn centre, drafted second overall by the Bobcats in 2004, won Rookie of the Year?

Emeka Okafor went one pick after high-schooler Dwight Howard and one before UConn teammate Ben Gordon, then beat them both in the Rookie of the Year vote with 15.1 points and 10.9 rebounds a game.

Which Gonzaga star, the leading scorer in college basketball, did the Bobcats draft third overall in 2006?

Adam Morrison was the first pick made after Michael Jordan bought into the Bobcats and took over basketball decisions; a knee injury cost him his whole second season and he was traded to the Lakers in 2009.

Which Hall of Fame coach took over the Bobcats in 2008 and led them to their first playoff berth in 2010?

Larry Brown, the first coach to win both an NCAA and an NBA title, guided the 2009–10 Bobcats to 44 wins and the franchise's first playoff trip, a sweep by Orlando.

Who was the only Charlotte Bobcats player ever selected for an NBA All-Star team?

Gerald Wallace, nicknamed 'Crash' for his reckless hustle, made the 2010 All-Star team and was traded to Portland the following season.

Whose 9–73 season was the NBA's worst by winning percentage before the 2011–12 Bobcats?

The Philadelphia 76ers of 1972–73 won at a .110 rate; the Bobcats' lockout-shortened 7–59 worked out at .106, and they got there by losing their last 23 games in a row.

Which 2018 draftee did the Hornets immediately trade for Miles Bridges?

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander never played for Charlotte: the Hornets swapped him on draft day for Bridges, the 12th pick, and two second-rounders, and by 2025 he was the NBA's Most Valuable Player and a champion.

Which UConn guard, the 2011 NCAA tournament's Most Outstanding Player, did the Bobcats draft ninth overall?

Kemba Walker became the franchise's career scoring leader, and in 2018 he poured in a team-record 60 points in one game, only for Charlotte to lose it 122–119; he left for Boston in a 2019 sign-and-trade.

Whom did the Bobcats select second overall in 2012, the draft after their record-worst season?

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, a freshman on Kentucky's 2012 national champions, went second after the lottery denied the Bobcats the top pick despite the league's worst record.

Which Pacers guard signed with the reborn Hornets in 2014?

Lance Stephenson, who had blown in LeBron James's ear in that spring's playoffs, was the headline signing of the first season back under the Hornets name, but he made only 17 percent of his three-pointers and was traded after one year.

Which UCLA guard did the Hornets draft third overall in 1999?

Baron Davis, taken third out of UCLA, became an All-Star with the Hornets and moved with the club when it left Charlotte.

What was the name of the Bobcats' mascot?

Rufus D. Lynx took his name from the bobcat's scientific name, Lynx rufus, and was retired when the Bobcats era ended.

What is the name of the Hornets' mascot?

Hugo has been the Hornets' mascot since their first season, so fans chose the name a year before Hurricane Hugo struck the Carolinas; he left with the original team and came home with the name in 2014.

What are the Hornets' cheerleaders called?

The Honey Bees dance team performs at Hornets home games; during the Bobcats years the squad was known as the Lady Cats.

Which Duke sharpshooter did the Hornets draft fourth overall in 2025?

Kon Knueppel made his mark within weeks: he scored 21 points in the Summer League final and was named its MVP as Charlotte won the title, before he had played an NBA game.

The Hornets' 2020–21 'City' uniforms honour Charlotte's history as home to the first US branch of what?

The U.S. Mint opened a Charlotte branch in the 1830s to coin gold from the Carolina gold rush, and those City uniforms used mint green and gold to match.

Which nickname did the Hornets put on their black sleeved alternate uniforms in 2015?

The 'Buzz City' campaign had been used to hype the return of the Hornets name.

Which team joined the NBA as an expansion club in the same season as the original Hornets?

The Miami Heat and the Hornets entered together, a year before Orlando and Minnesota; the Heat later beat Charlotte in a seven-game first-round series in 2016.

Which 2020 third overall pick became the third Rookie of the Year in Hornets history?

LaMelo Ball, the youngest of three basketball-playing brothers, won the award even though a broken wrist limited him to 51 of the season's 72 games, and he was an All-Star a year later.

Which 17-season Spurs legend signed with the Hornets in 2018 for his final NBA season?

Tony Parker signed for two years but retired after one, and the four-time champion who had started for San Antonio since he was 19 came off the bench in every one of his 56 Hornets games.

Which Alabama forward did the Hornets draft second overall in 2023?

Brandon Miller averaged 17.3 points and finished third in the Rookie of the Year vote, but a torn wrist ligament ended his second season after only 27 games.

At roughly what valuation did the Hornets' Hall of Fame majority owner sell control of the team in 2023?

$3 billion was the reported valuation when the sale closed in August 2023, ending Michael Jordan's 13 years in control; rather than walk away, he stayed on as a minority owner.

Which coach finished as the Hornets' all-time wins leader when he stepped aside in 2024 after two stints?

Steve Clifford, who took the club to the playoffs twice in his first stint, ended his second as the franchise's winningest coach and moved into a front-office advisory role.

Who coached the Hornets to their first two playoff appearances, in 1993 and 1995?

Allan Bristow was running the Hornets' front office when he took over the coaching job himself in 1991; he got them to the playoffs in 1993 and 1995, then left after a 41–41 season in 1996.

What became of the original Hornets' arena in 2007, before turning 20?

It was imploded: the Coliseum came down in June 2007 to make way for a development of homes and a hotel, less than two years after the Bobcats moved to a new arena uptown.

Which act opened the new Charlotte arena in 2005 before the Bobcats played there?

The Rolling Stones opened the building on October 21, 2005, a stop on their A Bigger Bang tour; the Bobcats had to wait two more weeks for their own first game there, which they won.

Which 1990s Hornets sharpshooter held the franchise scoring and three-point records until 2017–18?

Dell Curry, an original Hornet from the expansion draft, won the 1994 Sixth Man of the Year award in ten Charlotte seasons; his son Stephen became the NBA's career three-point leader.

Who was MVP of the 1991 All-Star Game in Charlotte with 22 rebounds?

Charles Barkley added 17 points to his 22 rebounds as the East won 116–114 on the Hornets' home floor, a result sealed when the West's would-be winning three-pointer was wiped out for basket interference.

Which Kentucky guard was the expansion Hornets' first-ever college draft pick?

Rex Chapman left Kentucky after two seasons and went eighth overall; a leaper who entered two Slam Dunk Contests as a Hornet, he was traded to Washington midway through his fourth season.

Which former All-Star forward joined the Hornets on a four-year, $120 million deal in November 2020?

Gordon Hayward came in a sign-and-trade on the very day Charlotte waived Nicolas Batum, whose own $120 million Hornets contract still had a season to run; he averaged 19.6 points in his first year.

Which centre earned All-NBA Third Team honours in the Bobcats' final season?

Al Jefferson averaged 21.8 points and 10.8 rebounds in 2013–14, earned All-NBA Third Team honours and led the Bobcats back to the playoffs in their final season.

Which Celtics assistant was hired as the Hornets' head coach in May 2024?

Charles Lee, a Joe Mazzulla assistant on the 2024 NBA champions, finished that title run before taking over in Charlotte, his first head-coaching job.

Which company bought naming rights to the Bobcats' arena in April 2008?

Time Warner Cable's name went up in a deal that solved two problems at once: the Bobcats gained an arena sponsor and escaped a television contract that had limited how many fans could watch them.

Who was both the first head coach and the first general manager of the expansion Charlotte Bobcats?

Bernie Bickerstaff did both jobs for three seasons, and the expansion Bobcats won more games each year, 18, then 26, then 33, yet Sam Vincent replaced him on the bench in 2007.

In 1996 the Hornets traded their former No. 1 pick to the Knicks for which forward?

Anthony Mason led the NBA in minutes in his first Charlotte season, averaging 16.2 points and 11.4 rebounds, only for the Knicks, the team that had traded him, to sweep the Hornets out of the playoffs.

Which coach led both the original Hornets, from 1999, and the Bobcats, from 2010?

Paul Silas took over in March 1999 and made the playoffs in every full season with the original Hornets; he then coached a teenage LeBron James before the Bobcats called in December 2010.

Which hedge-fund manager, burned by the 2021 GameStop short squeeze, co-led the group that bought the Hornets in 2023?

Gabe Plotkin's fund, Melvin Capital, lost 53 percent of its value when small investors drove up GameStop's shares; two years later he and Rick Schnall became co-chairmen of the Hornets.