The history of the National Basketball Association's Charlotte Hornets dates to 1985 when founder George Shinn first thought of bringing professional basketball to Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets commenced play as an expansion team in 1988. After fourteen seasons under its original ownership, the franchise suspended operations in 2002 when Shinn transferred the basketball organization under his control to a new franchise in New Orleans. The Charlotte franchise was subsequently acquired, reactivated and renamed the Bobcats by Robert L. Johnson. After restocking its roster through their second expansion draft, the team resumed play in 2004. Johnson sold controlling interest to Hall of Fame legend and North Carolinian native Michael Jordan in 2010. Jordan, who restored the club's original name in 2014, sold the team to group led by Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin in 2023. The franchise has reached the postseason twelve times and made ten playoff appearances, although as of they are the oldest club in all of North American major professional sports to have never won a division championship.
1988–2002: The Original Charlotte Hornets
1985–1988: The NBA comes to Charlotte
In 1985, the NBA, with 23 teams, was planning to expand by four teams by the 1988–89 season. George Shinn, an entrepreneur from Kannapolis, North Carolina, wanted to bring an NBA team to the Charlotte area, and he assembled a group of prominent local businessmen to head the prospective franchise. The Charlotte area had long been a hotbed for college basketball. The Atlantic Coast Conference's four North Carolina teams had very large and very loyal fan bases in the region, as did local teams UNC Charlotte, Davidson, and Johnson C. Smith. Charlotte was also one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States, and was previously one of the three in-state regional homes to the American Basketball Association's Carolina Cougars.
Some critics doubted that Charlotte, then mostly known for banking, could support an NBA team; one Sacramento Bee columnist joked, "The only franchise Charlotte is going to get is one with Golden Arches." However, Shinn's ace in the hole was the Charlotte Coliseum, a state-of-the-art arena under construction that would seat almost 24,000 spectators – the largest basketball-specific arena to serve as a full-time home for an NBA team. On April 5, 1987, NBA Commissioner David Stern called Shinn to award the NBA's 24th franchise, to begin play in 1988. Franchises were also granted to Miami, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, and Orlando. Playing heavily on the area's support of college basketball, the new team ran billboards in the area saying, "Bringing the NBA to Basketball Country!"
Originally, the team was intended to be named the Charlotte Spirit, but a name-the-team contest yielded "Hornets" as the winning choice. That name was derived from the city's fierce resistance to British occupation during the Revolutionary War, which prompted the British commander, Lord Cornwallis, to refer to it as "a veritable hornet's nest of rebellion". The name had been used for previous Charlotte sports teams, including a minor league baseball team from 1901 to 1972, and a World Football League team that played there from 1974 to 1975. In addition the Charlotte 49ers and Davidson Wildcats of the NCAA play annually for the Hornets' Nest Trophy.
The team received attention when it chose teal as its primary color, setting off a sports fashion craze in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with many pro and amateur clubs soon following with teal in their color schemes. The team's uniforms were designed by international designer and North Carolina native Alexander Julian, and featured a first for NBA uniforms—pinstripes. Similar designs by the Orlando Magic, Toronto Raptors, Houston Rockets, Chicago Bulls, and Indiana Pacers followed soon after.
Shinn hired Carl Scheer, a longtime NBA executive, as the team's first general manager. Scheer sought a roster of veteran players, hoping to put together a competitive team as soon as possible, with a goal of making the playoffs in five years. Former college coach and veteran NBA assistant Dick Harter was hired as the team's first head coach.
In 1988, the Hornets and the Miami Heat were part of the 1988 NBA Expansion Draft. Unlike many expansion franchises that invest in the future with a team composed entirely of young players, Charlotte stocked its inaugural roster with several veterans in hopes of putting a competitive lineup on the court right away. The team also had three draft picks at the 1988 NBA draft.