Charlotte Hornets?

[BlackBolt3]

The Bobcats brand was poorly conceived from the start (the first owner naming the team after himself was a joke) and was a screeching trainwreck on wheels the minute they started wearing those bland blue alternates instead of their unique orange uniforms. Every single change from their inaugural look was a downgrade.

Meanwhile, the Charlotte Hornets brand remains strong, memorable, and iconic. Nobody will miss the Bobcats name. Good riddance.

Despite the initial strong fan support for the Hornets didn't their fan base give up on them and run the owner and franchise out of town?

So while Hornets 2.0 will not be run by the former despised and disgraced owner, they are still the worst performing and managed franchise in the league.

This is NBA version of the Cleveland Browns or Washington Senators. Double Fail.

At least they'll lose in style. Right?

But they do need some energy in that team. Be it player, coach, new name, whatever. Maybe it will come this year, next year, or ten years down the road. And playing in the same division as the NBA's mega team hurts the record a lot.

I've always been this close to supporting the Bobcats. Maybe the move will give me my breakthrough.

[sc49erfan15]

I've always been this close to supporting the Bobcats. Maybe the move will give me my breakthrough.

You pretty much nailed it. I'm never going to be as big of an NBA fan as I was in my elementary/middle school years (mid/late 1990s). I consider myself a Bobcats fan by default, but I just can't get into them. I've gone to a few games here and there... but will simply calling them the Hornets get me out to a few more games?

In a word - YES. And I know I'm not the only one.

[CharlotteIllini88]

Another Charlottean here, and I'm psyched about the Hornets name coming back (even though I've only lived in Charlotte for four years). I wonder what the rebranding will consist of. I'm assuming they'll bring back the purple and teal, but I wonder if they might introduce a third color to the mix. New Orleans added gold to the color scheme, but I'm guessing Charlotte will drop that. I'm torn on the Hornets logo. I've always liked the original logo, but I'd also like to see something fresh, even if it's just a secondary logo.

[kw11333]

A LOT of Air Jordan merch is in the old Hornets colours currently.

[kajeet]

Just found out the news about the Bobcats press conference tomorrow.

[C's]

Despite the initial strong fan support for the Hornets didn't their fan base give up on them and run the owner and franchise out of town?

So while Hornets 2.0 will not be run by the former despised and disgraced owner, they are still the worst performing and managed franchise in the league.

This is NBA version of the Cleveland Browns or Washington Senators. Double Fail.

Charlotte ran George Shinn out of town? Good one.

[Sport]

This is fantastic news.

So what's the timeframe for when the change takes place?

I have to assume the NBA has a deadline for uniform/namechanges and that's why the Pelicans were announced however many months ago.

Will the Bobcats play one more season as the zombiecats in some of the NBA's worst uniforms or will they be allowed to rebrand this offseason and take the court this october as the new Hornets?

[Kramerica Industries]

I believe it's been said that it's an 18 month process, minimum.

So we'll have to wait 'till 2014-'15 for this to happen.

[Bravo96]

I believe it's been said that it's an 18 month process, minimum.

So we'll have to wait 'till 2014-'15 for this to happen.

Correct; Adam Silver said as much when he was in CLT for the town hall in April. Even so, depressing as that is, that means after one more rebuilding year, it looks like the Cats, er Hornets, will be making a run for the a lower playoff seed in their new duds. That can only be a good thing for fan support.

[TruColor]

Will the Bobcats play one more season as the zombiecats in some of the NBA's worst uniforms or will they be allowed to rebrand this offseason and take the court this october as the new Hornets?

Sounds like we'll have one season with a couple of games of Pelicans vs. Bobcats...so in about five years or so, we can have a thread dedicated to "I just found this picture...the Pelicans and BOBCATS played each other???". Along with Brooklyn Nets vs. New Orleans Hornets.

[supermati]

Will the Bobcats play one more season as the zombiecats in some of the NBA's worst uniforms or will they be allowed to rebrand this offseason and take the court this october as the new Hornets?

Sounds like we'll have one season with a couple of games of Pelicans vs. Bobcats...so in about five years or so, we can have a thread dedicated to "I just found this picture...the Pelicans and BOBCATS played each other???". Along with Brooklyn Nets vs. New Orleans Hornets.

Yeah, that should become a thread "One time matchups" or something like that.

[hawk36]

I believe it's been said that it's an 18 month process, minimum.

So we'll have to wait 'till 2014-'15 for this to happen.

Correct; Adam Silver said as much when he was in CLT for the town hall in April. Even so, depressing as that is, that means after one more rebuilding year, it looks like the Cats, er Hornets, will be making a run for the a lower playoff seed in their new duds. That can only be a good thing for fan support.

I can't believe the NBA can't figure out a way around this wait, what a waste of a season. In 2008 the Sonics moved to OKC in June and had their Thunder brand/unis by November. 5 months seems like plenty of time to make this switch.

[OnWis97]

I believe it's been said that it's an 18 month process, minimum.

So we'll have to wait 'till 2014-'15 for this to happen.

Correct; Adam Silver said as much when he was in CLT for the town hall in April. Even so, depressing as that is, that means after one more rebuilding year, it looks like the Cats, er Hornets, will be making a run for the a lower playoff seed in their new duds. That can only be a good thing for fan support.

I can't believe the NBA can't figure out a way around this wait, what a waste of a season. In 2008 the Sonics moved to OKC in June and had their Thunder brand/unis by November. 5 months seems like plenty of time to make this switch.

On one hand, these rules exist for a reason...and generally I am OK with it...I don't want teams switching uniforms every 10 minutes the way they do now in college.

On the other, I tend to agree that it would be nice to be able to make this happen for next year. Why have a lame duck year for the Bobcats when it seems people in Charlotte are drooling for the Hornets? They should try to make this happen...common sense says that this is different than if the Bucks wanted to change to gold and orange for next year without league vetting.

I suppose the positive is that the Bobcats/Hornets will have some time to truly consider the look...the downside of the quick change for OKC is that they seemingly designed a very lame logo before they even named themselves. Now the Hornets have the opportunity to go the Winnipeg Jets route if they find that preferable to going back to the old stuff (though I would guess they'll go to the old stuff either way).

[Sport]

I believe it's been said that it's an 18 month process, minimum.

So we'll have to wait 'till 2014-'15 for this to happen.

Correct; Adam Silver said as much when he was in CLT for the town hall in April. Even so, depressing as that is, that means after one more rebuilding year, it looks like the Cats, er Hornets, will be making a run for the a lower playoff seed in their new duds. That can only be a good thing for fan support.

I can't believe the NBA can't figure out a way around this wait, what a waste of a season. In 2008 the Sonics moved to OKC in June and had their Thunder brand/unis by November. 5 months seems like plenty of time to make this switch.

Judging by the Thunder's name, logo, and uniforms, a lot of people would argue that it's far too little time to make the switch.

Obviously the Hornets have old logos at their disposal so it's a slightly different situation. Just saying that 5 months didn't create a successful look in OKC.

I wonder if the league will let the Bobcats wear Hornets throwbacks next season. We all know they're going to sell a crapton of Hornets throwback apparel next season.

[TheOldRoman]

There's not a thing wrong with the Thunders' uniforms. The name sucks and logo is laughably bad, but their uniforms are in the top third of the league.

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

Would Charlotte fans be happy with a new logo, and colours with a potential name change?(Like Winnipeg)

Or would they prefer to take embrace the old logo and colours like the Washington Senators/Nationals have done on a few occasions. Then again the Nats/Sens name and colours never relocated with the franchise, in both instances (Twins and Rangers) both teams took new names and colours.

I think it's pretty much teal and purple or bust around here. Heck, a graphic designer from Nola even created a new identity with a slightly updated logo that's immensely popular as a second choice to the original logo returning.

Link?

[mass amount of pics]

Another court design. Gorgeous work in my opinion. All done by the masterful Bigdub81.

Veni.

[rams80]

I believe it's been said that it's an 18 month process, minimum.

So we'll have to wait 'till 2014-'15 for this to happen.

Correct; Adam Silver said as much when he was in CLT for the town hall in April. Even so, depressing as that is, that means after one more rebuilding year, it looks like the Cats, er Hornets, will be making a run for the a lower playoff seed in their new duds. That can only be a good thing for fan support.

Thinking that Charlotte will be making a playoff run as long as Jordan owns the team almost merits the "Archimedes laughing" clip.

[IceCap]

Yeah, the team's not going to suddenly become a playoff team just by switching to Hornets jerseys. They're still going to be a bad team run by idiots. Which is the primary problem here. The name change won't fool anyone, not long term anyway. You'll probably see an increase in merchandise and ticket sales for a year, maybe two. Once everyone realizes this is just the same crappy Bobcats team, however, people will walk away again.

[Fifty8_Black O]

I agree that it takes more than a name change to STAY relevant but they basically bought themselves two years of support during a rebuilding period that if they hit on some draft picks (big if obviously) they can actually build a solid team as the transition is taking place. A best case scenario for a team that has been known only as a punch line for most of it's existence. Atleast now they're being discussed, no?

Side note- any Charlotte folks headed up to the arena tonight for the open house/lottery party/announcement?

[CS85]

Cats owner #MichaelJordan announces team has submitted intent to change name to Hornets to the #NBA

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BOBCATS SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT APPLIES TO CHANGE TEAM’S NAME TO HORNETS

May 21, 2013 – Bobcats Sports & Entertainment Chairman Michael Jordan announced today that the

organization has submitted its application to change the team’s name to the Charlotte Hornets starting

with the 2014-15 season. The request now goes to the NBA Board of Governors, which next meets on

July 18 in Las Vegas, where it would need a majority vote for approval.

“This is a monumental moment for our organization,” Jordan said. “After undergoing an elaborate

research process, we recognize that this is what our fans want. We believe that making this change

would not only re-establish one of the most recognized brands in sports but would also unify our fan

base by bringing together our loyal Bobcats fans with those who have fond memories of our city’s NBA

predecessor. Our fans spoke and we listened.”

The historical significance of the Hornets moniker dates back to the American Revolution, when the city

of Charlotte’s resistance led British General Charles Cornwallis to refer to the local militia members as

“a veritable nest of hornets.” The Charlotte Hornets name appears throughout the city’s sports history,

having previously been used by a minor league baseball team from 1901-1973, a World Football

League team in 1974 and 1975, and the city’s previous NBA team from 1988-2002.

Charlotte’s first major professional sports team, the NBA’s Hornets led the league in attendance during

their inaugural season in 1988-89 and went on to do so seven straight times from 1990-91 to 1996-97,

recording 364 consecutive sellouts from Dec. 23, 1988 through Nov. 21, 1997.

The application to change the name is the first step in a process that would lead to the team taking the

floor as the Hornets starting with the 2014-15 season. Pending approval from the Board of Governors,

additional pieces of the process would include the selection of the team’s colors, designing of the

team’s logo, uniforms and playing court, and a myriad of alterations at Time Warner Cable Arena,

among others.

In order to allow fans to show their support for the return of the Hornets name to Charlotte, the

organization has created a two-year ticket plan that includes both the 2013-14 season and the 2014-15

season when the Charlotte Hornets would take the floor for the first time in 12 years. Tickets are

available now by calling 704-688-8000 or visiting BackBuzzCity.com.

Bobcats Sports & Entertainment owns the Charlotte Bobcats and operates Charlotte’s Time Warner

Cable Arena.