HOW DID CHARLOTTE LOSE THE ORIGINAL HORNETS?//CHARLOTTE HORNETS MOVE TO NEW ORLEANS DOCUMENTARY

In this All Sports History video we'll look back at what happened to the original Charlotte Hornets when their owner George Shinn became involved in several personal scandals that caused a rift between the city and the team.

Here's what this "Charlotte Hornets History" video covers:

The Charlotte Hornets were a model franchise of success, becoming instantly popular and a leader in attendance for several seasons . So what exactly led to the team moving away after fourteen years? In today’s video we’ll take a look back at how one owner’s personal scandals led to a major rift between the city and team causing the NBA to have no choice but to step in and intervene.

The Charlotte Hornets were apart of a four team NBA expansion in the late 1980's. Along with the Miami Heat, the Hornets began play in 1988 and were followed by two other teams, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic the following season. Charlotte Hornets owner George Shinn, a local businessman from North Carolina, was awarded the franchise thanks in part to the construction of a brand new arena at the time the Charlotte Coliseum. While the Charlotte Hornets early 90s team struggled on the court, the Hornets were an immediately popular with the fans. Muggsy Bogues highlights a list of rising stars at the time who helped the Hornets lead the league in attendance for some years. By the mid 1990's, the Hornets had drafted a solid core of young talent who helped the team reach the playoffs for the first time in 1994. Picks such as Larry Johnson (who would win Rookie of the Year) and Alonzo Mourning (who made a last second shot against the Boston Celtics, creating memorable Charlotte Hornets Highlights) helped turn around the team's fortunes. It wasn't long after this that the real trouble for the club began. George Shinn Hornets owner, was publicly accused of sexually assaulting a woman he met in 1997. During the trial, it was revealed that Shinn had several extra-martial affairs, including one who was a Charlotte Hornets cheerleader. The trial ultimately found Shinn not guilty of the sexual assault, but the revelations about his affairs created a huge blow to his public image. During this same time, Shinn was also displeased with the Hornets home the Charlotte Coliseum, and wanted out of Charlotte if the city couldn't build the team a new home. Charlotte eventually put together a voting referendum on building a new arena, but the voters rejecting the referendum due to unfair wage practices towards the city's workers. Shinn decided that it was time leave, and he moved the Hornets to New Orleans after they showed incredible enthusiasm for the team in pre-season ticket sales in 2002. The team would become the New Orleans Hornets. It would be another 12 years before the Hornets name would return to Charlotte, after the expansion team the Charlotte Bobcats officially changed their name to the Hornets in 2014. Thanks to the owner of the Charlotte Hornets Michael Jordan, who bought the team in 2010.

So what did you guys think about George Shinn and the Hornets moving to New Orleans, and then later having the Bobcats rebrand back to the Charlotte Hornets? Let me know in the comments below!

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WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ORIGINAL CHARLOTTE HORNETS?//CHARLOTTE HORNETS MOVE TO NEW ORLEANS DOCUMENTARY

[JazzyJeff]

As a bulls fan growing up in North Carolina in the 90s, The hornets buzz was real. I still remember owning hornets apparel more than Chicago. Sadly it’s a former shadow of itself with all the bad blood in its history. Loved the early 2000s teams. Baron Davis, Wesley, Jamal mashburn, elden Campbell, pj brown. That squad was lit

[ImmortalfireTheMod]

Definitely one of the biggest "What if?" scenarios in sports history...Kobe with the Hornets.

[ChrisTrewVideos]

New Orleans native here. I've written so much about the team on various websites and am very familiar with all of the good and bad associated with this move. Still learned a lot from this video and wanted to say Thank You for making it. If you ever want to go back in New Orleans, I'd be happy to be part of it. There's more stories to tell with the original Jazz departure, and the near OKC departure. Keep up the good work!

[GGriffeyIII]

I am not a huge basketball guy but I always played as the hornets on NBA Jam

[unappealingundesirable]

HUGE props to Bobby Phills II's widow Kendall, and his son Robert III and daughter. My goodness, the kids dealt with this as well as one could. I lost my father suddenly in 2003 (likely an embolism), two months short of my 30th birthday. That was terrible (and had ME thinking about suicide until November 2003), but I can't even imagine the kids losing their father so young, and in the way they did. Robert Phills III is playing basketball, and honoring his family legacy.

[unappealingundesirable]

I was born in Seattle in 1973, where I grew up. Sonics and Blazers fan. Japanese-American. Taking my birth year into account, you can see why someone my age group would find the teal blue color of the original Charlotte Hornets to be very appealing. They also had some nice young talent (before injuries crushed Larry Johnson), in Alonzo Mourning, Larry Johnson, and promising Kendall Gill. Also, with so many NBA players coming from North Carolina, Duke, NC State and Wake Forest, wow, it was so fitting. Haha, Kelly Tapioca!! As an expansion team, I remember the Hornets had some nice scorers, but poor defenders in Kelly Tapioca, Rex Chapman, and Dell Curry!

[ryanstrnad]

8:24 kind of a sentimental scene there, with David Sterns welcoming Kobe Bryant in to the league (at the draft). The two of course would die just before the 2020 All-Star Game in Chicago and would both be honored there.

[bluebear]

One that would be interesting to do sometime would be the NHL's Minnesota North Stars, about their time there before moving to Dallas, and the return of NHL hockey to the state at the turn of the millennium.

[markjohnson]

This video cleared up some things for me I wondered where the name pelicans came from, now I know. I think it is great that the hornet's colors and history went back to Charlotte where they belong. The Charlotte and New Orleans situation was remarkably similar to what happened with Cleveland and Baltimore

[AllSportsHistory]

**CORRECTION**
The 1992-93 and 1994-95 Hornets lost in 5 game series to the NY Knicks and Chicago Bulls.

Hey Sports Historians! What did you think about George Shinn moving the Hornets to New Orleans? And what about Michael Jordan changing the Bobcats back to the Hornets? Let me know!

[cjriddick]

I was a day one Hornets fan. I remember the games use to air on a TV station in Norfolk VA. I use to watch every weekend game from start to finish. When they moved I was crushed. Became a Spurs fan because I was a fan of Tim Duncan when he was in college. I root for Charlotte but I'm still a Spurs fan. One day I'll finally switch back full-time.

[revolutionaryexchangeprodu]

Larry Johnson didn't go to the University of Nevada, he went to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, a very different school

[duMaurier]

These are videos Ive been interested in. It's interesting to see why team relocate. Thanks for these uploads. I obviously Liked and Sub and even commented.

[aleisha]

If my last name was Shinn, I'd constantly be explaining to people "You know, like Godzilla." :)

Great video! Something to consider: Fall of 2022 is the 50th anniversary of the World Hockey Association. Might be a different focus than team histories, but there's definitely a ton of "What Happened To" opportunities there.

[MatthewMcMillian]

I grew up in the Charlotte area and lived there from the time I was born in the 70s until 2017 when I moved to Ohio. I can tell you that there has never been an area where basketball was more popular than it is in North Carolina unless maybe Indiana back between the 50's and 70s. The reason attendance went in the toilet was George Shinn who was one of the worst most troublesome owners in the league we all felt down in loved Larry Johnson and decided to pay him with an albatross Larry Johnson was a very good player especially during his first two years before injuries changed the kind of player he loved Alonzo Mourning and knew that it was the ability to draft Mourning that had the Hornets in the was the franchise player and the guy to build your team around and not Larry Johnson who already by his third season was no longer the explosive player he was as a rookie thanks to injuries....the problem to almost everyone in the Charlotte area and surrounding areas was that Shinn gave Johnson this albatross contract making him the highest paid player on the team and one of the highest in the league and everyone knew Johnson wasnt our best player it was Mourning but Johnson was Shinn's favorite what happened when Mourning was nearing the end of his rookie contract...Shinn refused to pay Mourning what he was worth which Mourning felt was far more than the often injured Larry Johnson who was making so much money. The fans wanted the team to trade Johnson somehow and pay would have none of that telling local media in the area that Larry Johnson was our franchise player....so he traded Mourning who instantly made the Heat a title contender as he entered his how after trading Mourning which was the stupidest decision Shinn ever made as owner ....he then deals Johnson finally when it finally became obvious to even Shinn that Johnson was a ghost of the player he once was and was not the true superstar you build a team around....just something the fans and every coach he had tried to get him to realize years fans were not happy the team drafted Larry Johnson as I myself wanted Dikembe Mutombo or Kenny Anderson to be honest in that Mourning was the studd we needed the next season and in any other year Mourning would have been the automatic first overall pick however we got him at number two because Shaq left college a year early so that draft had two big guys who were franchise centers...in Shaq and Mourning. Mourning is kinda forgotten now because thanks to health issues his career was cut short in his prime but he would have been mentioned as one of the most fierce and best big men in history if he had never had heart problems and played as long as someone like Shaq did with good health. But long story short....George Shinn destroyed the team that he had gotten lucky enough to build...he treated fan favorites like Bogues like garbage and he treated his fans like garbage and that is why the fans finally started to say F*** George Shinn and stopped going to games to watch the same old crap that was solid teams but not contenders...I myself hated Shinn so much for trading Mourning and paying Johnson that even though Glenn Rice was a star....I never really even watched the Hornets regular on TV back then after the Mourning trade and their games were all broadcast live on free TV in those days in the Charlotte area and I still could care less I became a Miami Heat fan because of that I only rooted for the Dell Curry's and Mugsy Bogues as individual players and never rooted for the Hornets again. I honestly was thrilled to hear they were leaving Charlotte at the time because it gave me hope that one day we might have a chance to get a new team not ran into the ground by Shinn.

[mrmoose]

FYI, Larry Johnson attended UNLV (University of Nevada-Las Vegas) known as the Running Rebels. Universiry of Nevada (usually called just Nevada) is in Reno known as the Wolfpack.

[erikr]

Very good episode.

I got a few suggestions

What happened to the NASL?
What lead to Bottlegate?
History about the Old Miami Orange Bowl stadium.

[jamesmoss]

I know that the original Hornets move to New Orleans became the pelicans and good thing that the second Hornets came in. 😀👍🏀

[dnuck]

Glad that Hornets were able to get the name back to Charlotte and get the old records back as well. I hope the same thing will happen when Sonics come back to Seattle as an expansion team.

[KidTonyGaming]

Being from New Orleans we got the shit end of the stick, we lost our original name to Utah then when the NO Hornets became the Pelicans, we became an expansion team, but we didn't get our expansion draft since it was 12 years after the fact, while losing all the Hornets history and not having any of our Jazz history