The 'Charlotte Bobcats' are a professional
basketball team based in
Charlotte, North Carolina. They play in the
Southeast Division of the
Eastern Conference in the
National Basketball Association. The Bobcats joined the league in 2004, two seasons after Charlotte's previous NBA team, the
Charlotte Hornets, relocated to
New Orleans and became the
New Orleans Hornets.
[1]
Along with the
Dallas Mavericks and
Philadelphia 76ers, the Bobcats support the
Fort Worth Flyers, an
NBA Development League team located in
Texas. The Bobcats were also the brother team of the
Charlotte Sting of the
WNBA before the Sting folded on
January 3,
2007.
[2]
Home arenas
The Charlotte Bobcats first played their games at the
Charlotte Coliseum as a new replacement,
Charlotte Bobcats Arena, was being built. The city closed the Coliseum in the offseason of
2005, and opened the new arena with a
Rolling Stones concert shortly before the new
NBA season.
★
Charlotte Coliseum (2004-2005)
★
Charlotte Bobcats Arena (2005-present)
Franchise history
Creating a new team
When the
Charlotte Hornets relocated to
New Orleans for the
2002-03 season, the city and the NBA agreed to create a new team in
Charlotte for the
2004-05 season. Several ownership groups, including one led by former
Boston Celtics star
Larry Bird, made bids for the team.
[3] In the end, a group led by
Black Entertainment Television founder
Robert L. Johnson was awarded the franchise.
[4] Johnson is one of the first prominent
African American owners in
U.S. professional sports.
[5] On
June 15,
2006 it was announced that NBA legend
Michael Jordan would become the second largest shareholder in the Bobcats.
[6] Another notable co-owner is the
rapper Nelly.
[7]
In
June 2003, the new team was named the Bobcats.
[8] Bobcats, along with ''Charlotte Flight'' and ''Charlotte Dragons'' were the top three choices as voted by fans.
The Charlotte Regional Sports Commission aided with the "Help Name The Team" effort that drew over 1,250 suggestions. The
bobcat is one of the few indigenous predators to the Carolinas.
Charlotte, already being home to the
NFL's
Carolina Panthers, made the cat-related name a natural choice for the
area's new basketball team.
One of the ironies in the formation of the franchise was the fact that despite failed attempts at the ballot box to fully fund a new arena downtown, city politicians decided to go ahead with plans and implemented a hotel and leisure tax in Charlotte to help pay for it.
[9][10] George Shinn, owner of the Hornets, also wanted the city of Charlotte to pay for a new arena, and subsequently left town for New Orleans when the city failed to do so.
The first seasons
The Bobcats held their
expansion draft on Tuesday,
June 22,
2004, picking up such seasoned players as
Predrag Drobnjak and talented youngsters such as
Sacramento Kings's former forward
Gerald Wallace. However, Drobnjak would never play for the team; the Bobcats traded Drobnjak to the
Atlanta Hawks for a 2005 second round
draft pick. They also traded with the
Los Angeles Clippers to acquire the second pick in the
2004 NBA Draft, which they used to select Connecticut Huskie's center,
Emeka Okafor. He went on to win the
NBA Rookie of the Year in 2005.
Their first game was a 103-96 loss to the
Washington Wizards (formerly co-owned by Michael Jordan) on
November 4,
2004. They won their first game in franchise history over the
Orlando Magic 111-100 on
November 6. After losing their next seven games, the Bobcats stunned the defending champion
Detroit Pistons 91-89. On
December 14, the Bobcats really gave their fans something to roar about, beating the
New Orleans Hornets 94-93 in overtime in the team's first trip to Charlotte after the move. The Bobcats would go on to post an 18-64 record finishing in 4th place. After the regular season, they finished with the best record in one of the NBA's summer leagues, the Reebok Rocky Mountain Revue in
Salt Lake City. In the
2005 NBA Draft, the Bobcats drafted two
North Carolina players: guard
Raymond Felton and forward
Sean May. With these two players, in addition to Okafor, the Bobcats hoped to build a young, solid foundation for future success. The Bobcats selected
Adam Morrison from
Gonzaga University with the third pick in the
2006 NBA Draft. In late
November 2006, the Bobcats waived guard
Alan Anderson, who played 2.0 points and 1.3 rebounds in 10.2 minutes, to make room for the acquisition of veteran
Derek Anderson. After an injury to part-time starting point guard
Brevin Knight that would sideline him for at least a month, the Bobcats traded
Bernard Robinson to the
New Jersey Nets for point guard
Jeff McInnis and cash considerations on
January 3rd,
2007.
[11]
On
March 13,
2007, a statement issued by part-owner
Michael Jordan indicated that Bobcats head coach
Bernie Bickerstaff would not return to coach the
2007-08 season. Jordan stated that Bickerstaff would finish the rest of the current season and that he remained an integral part of the organization.
[12] Candidates interviewing for the head coaching position included
Stan Van Gundy,
Paul Silas,
Herb Williams, and
Mike Fratello. On
May 25,
2007 the Bobcats announced that
Sam Vincent, a former assistant with the
Dallas Mavericks, would be the second coach in franchise history.
[13]
The Sam Vincent era
Main articles: 2007-08 Charlotte Bobcats season
The front office has been a key issue for the Bobcats during the
2007 offseason.
Rod Higgins was hired on
May 31,
2007 as
general manager, assuming the same role he had with the
Golden State Warriors.
[14] Phil Ford and
Lee Rose were tapped to join Vincent's coaching staff on
June 6,
2007.
[15] Buzz Peterson was hired from
Coastal Carolina University, where he served as head basketball coach, to become director of player personnel on
June 13,
2007.
[ Bobcats lure Peterson from college ranks ] Brandan Wright was selected with the eighth pick by the Bobcats in the
2007 NBA Draft. He was subsequently traded to
Golden State for swingman
Jason Richardson and big man
Jermareo Davidson.
The Bobcats also waived team veteran
Brevin Knight who was formerly the starting point guard but lost out the job to Charlotte draft pick
Raymond Felton.
Alternate logos and uniforms
Logos
Alternate logo
The Bobcats' alternate logo features an orange bobcat head on a blue and
silver basketball.
Jerseys
Since their creation the
jerseys have donned a
white home
uniform reading Bobcats in
orange with
dark blue,
light blue, and
black trimming. The Bobcats' primary away jersey is orange reading "Charlotte" in white with dark blue, light blue, and black trimming.
[16]
In the 2006 off-season, the Bobcats announced a new alternate away jersey which debuted during the
2006-07 NBA season. Bobcats president and chief operating officer Fred Whitfield told reporters "Alternate uniforms have proven to be very popular with fans across sports and we are proud to introduce our third uniform to Charlotte Bobcats fans". The new uniform will be Bobcat blue which reads Bobcats in white with black, orange, and white trimming.
[17]
Season-by-season records
|-
|colspan="6" align=center bgcolor="#F15830" |
'Charlotte Bobcats'
|-
|2004-05 || 18 || 64 || .220 || ||
|-
|2005-06 || 26 || 56 || .317 || ||
|-
|2006-07 || 33 || 49 || .402 || ||
|-
|2007-08 || 0 || 0 || .000 || ||
|-
!Totals || 77 || 169 || .313 || ||
|-
!Playoffs || 0 || 0 || .000 || ||
Current roster
'Further information:'
''Charlotte Bobcats all-time roster''
''Charlotte Bobcats draft history''
NBA awards
'Rookie of the Year'
★ Emeka Okafor: 2005
'NBA Rookie First Team
★ Emeka Okafor: 2005
'NBA Rookie Second Team
★ Raymond Felton: 2006
★ Wálter Herrmann: 2007
★ Adam Morrison: 2007
Media coverage
Bobcats basketball is heavily covered by News 14 Carolina which is owned by Time-Warner cable. News 14 games are also shown in the Greensboro and Raleigh markets. Select games will be shown on WMYT-TV (MyNetworkTV) in Charlotte. The Bobcats radio network covers nearly 3 million households throughout North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.[18] The flagship radio station, located in Charlotte, is WNMX, "Mix 106.1".
Notes
1. Owners approve Hornet's move to New Orleans
2. WNBA Franchise Charlotte Sting Folds
3. Bird, Carr thinking pro hoops in Charlotte?
4. Winning NBA bid just the start for Johnson
5. Johnson will be NBA's first black majority owner
6. Michael Jordan Named Part-Owner of Bobcats
7. Robert L. Johnson Adds Nelly To Bobcats Ownership Team
8. NBA Expansion Franchise To Be Named Charlotte Bobcats
9. Arena bounces back
10. With new plan and new NBA team, arena project finally heads uptown
11. Bobcats waive guard Anderson
12. Jordan: Bickerstaff won't return as coach
13. Bobcats New Era Begins With Vincent
14. It's official: Bobcats will name Higgins GM
15. Bobcats add Rose, Ford to coaching staff
16. Bobcats Unveil New Team Uniforms
17. Bobcats Unveil Alternate Road Uniform
18. Charlotte Bobcats Media
External links
★ Official Charlotte Bobcats website
★ Charlotte Bobcats News and Discussion
★ BBF.com's Bobcat's Message Board
★ Bobcats Den - Blog Devoted to the Charlotte Bobcats
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
