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.
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.