The tables had turned, and now Johnson was the scorned lover. His brand, the Bobcats, never caught on in Charlotte, and the product on the floor wasn’t worth the price of admission.
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A few free t-shirts and smiles at press conferences would not suffice this time. We learned about heartbreak, and our expectations for the courtship of our next relationship were high. He mistakenly thought that by bringing basketball back that the city would grovel at his feet. How a businessmen as savvy as Bob Johnson failed to take the city’s pulse is baffling. Well, she dumped us and we learned an important fact of life: No relationships, no matter how special, are permanent. We had already planned for marriage, kids and the house with the white picket fence.
They were blinded by dollars signs and couldn’t recognize that Charlotte was a scorned lover.
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The NBA and Johnson simply half-assed professional basketball’s return to Charlotte.
One would think that the Hornets’ ignominious departure was Charlotte sports hitting rock-bottom, but as we would soon find out, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The NBA quickly announced Charlotte would be home to an expansion team, and Bob Johnson would be its owner. Commissioner David Stern reflected on Charlotte’s high attendance figures and believed it was still a viable market for his league. “Maybe we don’t need to have professional sports here,” we told ourselves as we licked our wounds from Shinn’s flight to New Orleans. Sometime during that acrimonious divorce between city and team Charlotte’s attitude about professional sports changed. Oddly enough, many of us washed our hands clean of our once beloved franchise and said, “Good riddance.” By the year 2000, it was clear the Hornets would relocate. Then, the NBA lockout happened, and George Shinn’s alleged sexual misconduct happened and George Shinn’s demand for a new arena happened. Riding the coattails of the Hornets’ success, the Carolina Panthers became the region’s second professional franchise with their inaugural season in 1995.Ĭharlotte shouted to the nation that we may be a small, Southern town masquerading as a city, but we had made it to the big stage. They may have never raised a championship banner in the now-demolished Charlotte Coliseum, but the attendance banners attested to the city’s successful entry into professional sports. The Hornets boasted the NBA’s highest attendance in eight of the 14 seasons they called Charlotte home. Last year, I learned that a local group called Bring Back the Buzz sought to reclaim the Hornet’s namesake. In fact, the Charlotte Hornets were one of the most successful small market teams in professional sports. Gay’s words stung because it brought to light what everyone thought about Charlotte as an NBA destination: Time Warner Arena is essentially a neutral court that opponents can commandeer on a nightly basis to embarrass our team and our city.Ĭharlotte wasn’t always the laughing stock of the NBA. I didn’t care that Gay won the war of words with Biyombo. Gay shared his response with the Charlotte Observer after the game: “Who are you kidding? This is everyone’s house, who plays here.” But the loss – one of the team’s 59 that season – does not stand out in particular, except for one exchange that remains etched into my memory.Īs frustrations boiled over, Bismack Biyombo told Grizzly Rudy Gay, “This is my house,” pointing toward the hardwood. The Cats kept it close well into the fourth quarter, but in the end they just couldn’t hold on. In the midst of the worst season in NBA history, the Charlotte Bobcats had a rare opportunity to win at home against the Memphis Grizzlies.