No one in the NBA has done something as inexplicable as the Charlotte Hornets, and no one has done so for so long. Long in this context means “forever.” They’ve been the quintessential (and, if true, necessary) member of the league’s unforgettable Southeastern Division since the franchise’s second inception in 2004-05, reliably swapping the purple and teal for faded gray each year. When the first Charlotte NBA team left the city in 2002, it became what we now know as the New Orleans Pelicans. The current incarnation began as an expansion team and has been the league’s worst team by aggregate record ever since, including Sacramento and Washington. The new version of the Bobcats/Hornets played fewer playoff games than anyone else and was eliminated in the first round each time, further tarnishing Michael Jordan’s name in the process. It’s arguably the franchise’s most notable accomplishment to convince Jordan to trade his ownership to run in NASCAR.
But what’s notable isn’t what the Hornets do. For the most part, it is the invisibility in the invisible distinction that distinguishes them from what is really nothing. Wednesday night marked only the second time in the last nine years that the team has topped .500 late in the season. Because Milwaukee stinks and everyone down there is a turbo tank, they are mostly on the verge of knowing the sweet life that a play-in tournament offers. If successful, Charlotte’s season will include an 83rd game for the first time in a decade.
That fact in itself only speaks to the number of teams in the league currently forced to be terrible by executive order. What makes this hornet worth your time is that it’s been pretty good lately and quite fun to watch, at least for the few minutes you spend wading through these seething bushes. In a league dominated by discontent from top to bottom, with only Nico Harrison’s tarnished reputation trying to make a comeback, the Hornets are kicking ass and leaving their name to others. And that means as dawn breaks, a 32-31 team is tied with the nondescript Atlanta Hawks.
The difference is how Charlotte got to 32-31. They did this by going 22-11, the third-best record in basketball since Christmas, and an even better 16-3 record since Jan. 22. The difference is that in their last six games, they have become just the second team in NBA history to win six straight games by 15 or more points. The difference is that last night they beat the Boston Celtics, a good team, by 29 points on the road. So the real difference is that, perhaps for the first time ever, they can claim to be relevant to the rest of the country.
The Hornets certainly don’t have any true must-watch players. Kon Knueppel is having what may be a rookie of the year season behind his much more famous former Duke teammate, Cooper Flagg, but unless you’re already a certified hoophead, you’re unlikely to take the time to soak in a Knueppel jumper all evening. Brandon Miller, the second pick of three drafts ago, is emerging as a powerful truth in a sport full of liars. Another player whose name you likely know and play for is LaMelo Ball. However, this is only very important if you are a pedestrian.
But they’re light years away from this disappointing festival, trying to make play-in tournaments feel less like gateways to actual tanking. Their resurgence has been built in large part on diligent defense. The Hornets have dropped their points allowed per game by nearly seven since the start of the year. But let’s be honest, we’re not here to go into detail about why the Charlotte Hornets are tied for the 9th most popular team in the business. You came here to collect your free baggage and we are all done. Better luck next time, Pookie.
No, the whole Hornets thing is the story. The notable part is that it’s actually making NBA fans not notice at all, which is a true first-time feeling. There is a palpable joy and even arrogance here that their ancestors could not teach. Because who could do that? The same Hornets mentioned above have had the best net rating, best offensive rating, sixth-best defensive rating, and best 3-point percentage in the league since the start of the year. Nowadays, any sane fan would much rather watch them play in the East than their Southeastern brethren, or the Raptors or 76ers, because the new toys sell themselves.
hornets nee The Bobcats have strived for a level of witness protection anonymity throughout their entire history, including all parts of Hornets I that did not include a young Larry Johnson. Charlotte’s NBA franchise, the team it replaced with the one that left, gave its fan base a decade of playoff basketball for the first time in 35 years. There were three years between my Hornets move to Nawlins and Hornets II hastily coming online three years later, during which the fan base probably engaged in some difficult but necessary soul-searching. And during that span, they’ve only won one playoff series against a team outside of the Southeast. The NBA’s Phantom Zone. Fighting your way out of that situation like you have over the last few months isn’t the same as winning a playoff series, but it’s the rarest thing a Hornets-based thing can do. It’s nothing.
It’s Charlotte’s time. Because everyone should have at least one. Even the Wizards had one, but that was in the late 1970s and they were the Bullets at the time. To be fair, it’s scuba gear for another dive, as Charlotte’s time arrived in March rather than April, or in May or June. You have to stand out before anyone sees you walking, and going 16-3 and kicking the Celtics’ collective ass at the Garden will get your attention. How long this run will last is up to the gods, but so far they have never been forced to pay attention to these guys. It will be interesting to see how they handle the pressure. Not the Hornets. gods.
