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Charlotte Hornets

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Template:NBA team The Charlotte Bobcats are a professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association. The Bobcats joined the league in 2004, two seasons after Charlotte's previous NBA team, the Charlotte Hornets, relocated to New Orleans and became the New Orleans Hornets.[1]

Along with the Dallas Mavericks and Philadelphia 76ers, the Bobcats support the Fort Worth Flyers, an NBA Development League team located in Texas. The Bobcats were also the brother team of the Charlotte Sting of the WNBA before the Sting folded on January 3, 2007.[2]

Home arenas

The Charlotte Bobcats first played their games at the Charlotte Coliseum as a new replacement, Charlotte Bobcats Arena, was being built. The city closed the Coliseum in the offseason of 2005, and opened the new arena with a Rolling Stones concert shortly before the new NBA season.

Franchise history

Creating a new team

When the Charlotte Hornets relocated to New Orleans for the 2002-03 season, the city and the NBA agreed to create a new team in Charlotte for the 2004-05 season. Several ownership groups, including one led by former Boston Celtics star Larry Bird, made bids for the team.[3] In the end, a group led by Black Entertainment Television founder Robert L. Johnson was awarded the franchise.[4] Johnson is one of the first prominent African American owners in U.S. professional sports.[5] On June 15, 2006 it was announced that NBA legend Michael Jordan would become the second largest shareholder in the Bobcats.[6] Another notable co-owner is the rapper Nelly.[7]

In June 2003, the new team was named the Bobcats.[8] Bobcats, along with Charlotte Flight and Charlotte Dragons were the top three choices as voted by fans.[8] The Charlotte Regional Sports Commission aided with the "Help Name The Team" effort that drew over 1,250 suggestions. The bobcat is one of the few indigenous predators to the Carolinas.[8] Charlotte, already being home to the NFL's Carolina Panthers, made the cat-related name a natural choice for the area's new basketball team.

One of the ironies in the formation of the franchise was the fact that despite failed attempts at the ballot box to fully fund a new arena downtown, city politicians decided to go ahead with plans and implemented a hotel and leisure tax in Charlotte to help pay for it.[9][10] George Shinn, owner of the Hornets, also wanted the city of Charlotte to pay for a new arena, and subsequently left town for New Orleans when the city failed to do so.

The first seasons

The Bobcats held their expansion draft on Tuesday, June 22, 2004, picking up such seasoned players as Predrag Drobnjak and talented youngsters such as Sacramento Kings's former forward Gerald Wallace. However, Drobnjak would never play for the team; the Bobcats traded Drobnjak to the Atlanta Hawks for a 2005 second round draft pick. They also traded with the Los Angeles Clippers to acquire the second pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, which they used to select Connecticut Huskie's center, Emeka Okafor. He went on to win the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2005.

Their first game was a 103-96 loss to the Washington Wizards (formerly co-owned by Michael Jordan) on November 4, 2004. They won their first game in franchise history over the Orlando Magic 111-100 on November 6. After losing their next seven games, the Bobcats stunned the defending champion Detroit Pistons 91-89. On December 14, the Bobcats really gave their fans something to roar about, beating the New Orleans Hornets 94-93 in overtime in the team's first trip to Charlotte after the move. The Bobcats would go on to post an 18-64 record finishing in 4th place. After the regular season, they finished with the best record in one of the NBA's summer leagues, the Reebok Rocky Mountain Revue in Salt Lake City. In the 2005 NBA Draft, the Bobcats drafted two North Carolina players: guard Raymond Felton and forward Sean May. With these two players, in addition to Okafor, the Bobcats hoped to build a young, solid foundation for future success. The Bobcats selected Adam Morrison from Gonzaga University with the third pick in the 2006 NBA Draft. In late November 2006, the Bobcats waived guard Alan Anderson, who played 2.0 points and 1.3 rebounds in 10.2 minutes, to make room for the acquisition of veteran Derek Anderson. After an injury to part-time starting point guard Brevin Knight that would sideline him for at least a month, the Bobcats traded Bernard Robinson to the New Jersey Nets for point guard Jeff McInnis and cash considerations on January 3rd, 2007.[11]

On March 13, 2007, a statement issued by part-owner Michael Jordan indicated that Bobcats head coach Bernie Bickerstaff would not return to coach the 2007-08 season. Jordan stated that Bickerstaff would finish the rest of the current season and that he remained an integral part of the organization.[12] Candidates interviewing for the head coaching position included Stan Van Gundy, Paul Silas, Herb Williams, and Mike Fratello. On May 25, 2007 the Bobcats announced that Sam Vincent, a former assistant with the Dallas Mavericks, would be the second coach in franchise history.[13]

The Sam Vincent era

The front office has been a key issue for the Bobcats during the 2007 offseason. Rod Higgins was hired on May 31, 2007 as general manager, assuming the same role he had with the Golden State Warriors.[14] Phil Ford and Lee Rose were tapped to join Vincent's coaching staff on June 6, 2007.[15] Buzz Peterson was hired from Coastal Carolina University, where he served as head basketball coach, to become director of player personnel on June 13, 2007[16]

Alternate logos and uniforms

Logos

File:Charlotte Bobcats alternate logo.png
Alternate logo

The Bobcats' alternate logo features an orange bobcat head on a blue and silver basketball.

Jerseys

Since their creation the jerseys have donned a white home uniform reading Bobcats in orange with dark blue, light blue, and black trimming. The Bobcats' primary away jersey is orange reading "Charlotte" in white with dark blue, light blue, and black trimming.[17]

In the 2006 off-season, the Bobcats announced a new alternate away jersey for the upcoming 2006-07 NBA season. Bobcats president and chief operating officer Fred Whitfield told reporters "Alternate uniforms have proven to be very popular with fans across sports and we are proud to introduce our third uniform to Charlotte Bobcats fans". The new uniform will be Bobcat blue which reads Bobcats in white with black, orange, and white trimming.[18]

Season-by-season records

Note: W = wins, L = losses, % = win–loss %

Season W L % Playoffs Results
Charlotte Bobcats
2004-05 18 64 .220
2005-06 26 56 .317
2006-07 33 49 .402
Totals 77 169 .313
Playoffs 0 0 .000

Current roster

Further information:
Charlotte Bobcats all-time roster
Charlotte Bobcats draft history

NBA awards

Rookie of the Year

Media coverage

Bobcats basketball is heavily covered by News 14 Carolina which is owned by Time-Warner cable. News 14 games are also shown in the Greensboro and Raleigh markets. Select games will be shown on WMYT-TV (MyNetworkTV) in Charlotte. The Bobcats radio network covers nearly 3 million households throughout North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.[19] The flagship radio station, located in Charlotte, is WNMX, "Mix 106.1".

Notes

  1. ^ Mary Foster (2002-05-10). "Owners approve Hornet's move to New Orleans". USA Today. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Mike Cranston (2007-01-03). "WNBA Franchise Charlotte Sting Folds". Washington Post. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Associated Press (2002-05-23). "Bird, Carr thinking pro hoops in Charlotte?". USA Today. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Michael Hiestand (2002-12-19). "Winning NBA bid just the start for Johnson". USA Today. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ ESPN (2002-12-17). "Johnson will be NBA's first black majority owner". ESPN.com. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Jenna Fryer (2006-06-15). "Michael Jordan Named Part-Owner of Bobcats". ABC. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ NBA (2004-07-19). "Robert L. Johnson Adds Nelly To Bobcats Ownership Team". NBA.com. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ a b c NBA (2003-06-11). "NBA Expansion Franchise To Be Named Charlotte Bobcats". NBA.com. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ Laura Williams-Tracy (2002-08-09). "Arena bounces back". Charlotte Business Journal. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ Erik Spanberg (2002-12-27). "With new plan and new NBA team, arena project finally heads uptown". Charlotte Business Journal. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ Rick Bonnell (2006-11-27). "Bobcats waive guard Anderson". Charlotte Observer. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ ESPN (2007-03-14). "Jordan: Bickerstaff won't return as coach". ESPN.com. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ Charlotte Bobcats (2007-05-25). "Bobcats New Era Begins With Vincent". Charlotte Bobcats. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Rick Bonnell (2007-06-07). "It's official: Bobcats will name Higgins GM". Charlotte.com. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ Rick Bonnell (2007-06-07). "Bobcats add Rose, Ford to coaching staff". Charlotte.com. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ Rick Bonnell (2007-06-13). "Bobcats lure Peterson from college ranks". Charlotte.com. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ Charlotte Bobcats (2004-08-21). "Bobcats Unveil New Team Uniforms". Charlotte Bobcats. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ Charlotte Bobcats (2006-08-16). "Bobcats Unveil Alternate Road Uniform". Charlotte Bobcats. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ Charlotte Bobcats. "Charlotte Bobcats Media". Charlotte Bobcats.

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