The Charlotte Hornets have been on the losing end of a custody battle between North Carolina’s largest city and New Orleans. The team moved to the Crescent City in 2002, retaining the Hornet name while Charlotte reemerged as the Bobcats in 2004. The New Orleans version recently switched their mascot to the Pelicans (to much Internet slander) which left the Hornet namesake up for grabs.
Charlotte Bobcat owner and NBA legend, Michael Jordan just announced that at the start of the 2014-2015 season, the Bobcats will morph back into the Hornets to revitalize their branding.
Via FOX:
Jordan said in a release Sunday that ”it was important to us to acknowledge the heritage of the Charlotte Hornets when bringing the name back to the market” and ”the purple and teal color scheme was instantly recognizable as being associated with the original Hornets.”
On Monday, the organization will begin a three-week campaign focused on ”painting the city” with the return of the purple and teal colors to Charlotte.
The Charlotte Hornets were never a winning franchise but they remained popular for their run-and-gun style and fashionable colors in the 1990s. By reverting back to those ways, they could see a spark that was never quite there under the Bobcat moniker.
To celebrate the switch, we’ve drummed up the The 10 Greatest Charlotte Hornets Of All-Time. Not New Orleans-based players or Bobcat members.
This one’s for North Carolina © Petey Pablo.
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Photo: FOX
