#ENCASED BASKETBALL PROFESSIONAL#

Season tickets for the Hornets' inaugural season. The team also had three draft picks at the 1988 NBA draft. Unlike many expansion franchises that invest in the future with a team composed entirely of young players, Charlotte stocked its inaugural roster with several veterans in hopes of putting a competitive lineup on the court right away. In 1988, the Hornets and the Miami Heat were part of the 1988 NBA Expansion Draft. Former college coach and veteran NBA assistant Dick Harter was hired as the team's first head coach.

Scheer preferred a roster of veteran players, hoping to put together a competitive team as soon as possible.

Shinn hired Carl Scheer as the team's first President and General Manager. Similar designs by other teams followed, as they became a hit. The team's uniforms, designed by international designer and North Carolina native Alexander Julian, featured a first for NBA uniforms- pin stripes. The team received further attention when it chose teal as its primary color, setting off a sports fashion craze in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The name originates from British General Cornwallis, who allegedly described the city as 'a hornet's nest of rebellion' following the Battle of Charlotte in 1780, though it was first attested in 1819. Originally, the new team was going to be called the Charlotte Spirit, but a name-the-team contest yielded 'Hornets' as the winning choice. Franchises were also granted to Miami, Minneapolis–Saint Paul, and Orlando. On April 5, 1987, then- NBA Commissioner David Stern called Shinn to tell him his group had been awarded the 24th NBA franchise, to begin play in 1988. Charlotte was also one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States, and was previously one of the three in-state regional homes to the American Basketball Association's (ABA) Carolina Cougars from 1969 to 1974.ĭespite doubt from critics, Shinn's ace in the hole was the Charlotte Coliseum, a state-of-the-art arena that would seat almost 24,000 spectators, the largest basketball-specific arena ever to serve as a full-time home for an NBA team. The Charlotte area had long been a hotbed for college basketball. George Shinn, an entrepreneur from Kannapolis, wanted to bring an NBA team to the Charlotte area, and he assembled a group of prominent local businessmen to head the prospective franchise. In 1985, the NBA was planning to expand by three teams by the 1988–89 season, later modified to include a total of four expansion teams. 1.3.1 2014–2020: Playoffs and strugglesĭoug Moe of the ABA's Carolina Cougars, which existed from 1969–1974.1.3 2014–present: Return of the Hornets.1.1.5 1998–2002: Final years of original personnel.In 2013, the Bobcats announced that they would change their name to the Charlotte Hornets once again for the 2014–15 season.

Although Shinn was controversially permitted to relocate his basketball organization to that city, an agreement was eventually reached in which Charlotte was permitted to retain the history and records of the team spanning from 1988 to 2002.Īfter suspending operations for two seasons the Charlotte franchise, rebranded at the time as the Charlotte Bobcats, was reactivated under new ownership in the 2004–05 NBA season. In 2002, Shinn relinquished his original franchise and acquired a new franchise in New Orleans.

The Charlotte Hornets franchise was established in 1988 as an expansion team owned by George Shinn. The Charlotte Hornets are mainly owned by Basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, who acquired a controlling interest in the team in 2010. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and play their home games at the Spectrum Center in Uptown Charlotte.

#ENCASED BASKETBALL PROFESSIONAL#

The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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