The Charlotte Bobcats is a basketball team in the NBA that is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
It is part of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. Charlotte’s previous team was the Hornets until it was transformed into New Orleans Hornets.
The Bobcats was an addition in the NBA last 2004. Their home arena is at Time Warner Cable Arena located at the center city of Charlotte. Their total recor in the NBA as of March 1, 2011 is 214-341 win-loss record.
History
Just as the Charlotte Hornets transferred to the city of New Orleans back in 2002, the NBA promised Charlotte leaders that they would be able to have an expansion team for the year 2004-2005 NBA season. The founder of the Black Entertainment Television, Robert Johnson was awarded with the franchise. Nelly, the rapper, was also a co-owner of the franchise.
They name Bobcats were revealed in June of 2003. They hired Bernie Bickerstaff as their first Head Coach and also the general manager of the franchise.
The Bobcat’s expansion draft started in 2002 where they acquired Predrag Drobnjak and the defensive specialist and high flyer Gerald Wallace from the Sacramento Kings. They got Emeka Okafor from the 2004 NBA Draft as the 2nd overall. He is a center and became a key contributor for the team especially in the defensive end.
Their first game was on Charlotte Coliseum against the Washington Wizards and lost with the score of 103-96. They win against the Orlando Magic, two days later, was the franchise’ first ever win. They finished the season with 18 wins and 64 losses, as expected to a new team. Okafor was named the Rookie of the Year that season because he showed his blocking ability and presence in the paint.
The next season, they drafted Raymond Felton and Sean May from the North Carolina Tar Heels. They were expected to help the team improve along with other young players like Okafor and Wallace.
The Bobcats still struggled in the course of the season but they managed to improve their standing into a 26-56 record. Following the season, the legendary Michael Jordan was announced as the head of the basketball operations as he had bought the minority stake of the team and had become the second largest stakeholder.
For the 2006-07 NBA season, the Bobcats had shown that they can improve. It was also announced, in the middle of the season that the head coach Bernie Bickerstaff will not be coaching in the next season but will remain for the rest of the season.They improved their record with 33-49 standing.
In 2007, Rod Higgins was placed as the general manager and Sam Vincent as the head coach of the team. In the 2007 NBA Draft, they got Brandan Wright as the eighth pick but was later on traded to a deal with the Golden State Warriors for Jason Richardson. They finished the season with 32-50 record, a disappointment to the team and the franchise. Coach Vincent was fired on April 26, 2008.
For the replacement of Coach Vincent, they hired the Basketball Hall of Famer Larry Brown. Also, they got DJ Agustin in the2008 NBA Draft. They almost made the playoffs with their record 35-47 but was behind four games for the 8th seed.
They acquired Gerald Henderson in the 2009 NBA Draft and made some moves in their roster. They traded Emeka Okafor to the New Orleans Hornets in exchange of Tyson Chandler. They also got Stephen Jackson and Acie Law from the Warriors.
Also that year, Michael Jordan became the owner of the franchise. Gerald Wallace was voted an All-Star and they finished the season 44-38. Their record qualified them to be the 8th seed on the playoffs. They were swept by the Orlando Magic.
In 2010-2011 season, Larry Brown stepped down as the head coach and was replaced by Paul Silas. They traded Gerald Wallace to the Blazers for first round picks, Joel Pryzbilla, Sean Marks and Dante Cunningham. They aslo got Mo Peterson and DJ White from the Oklahoma City Thunder for Nazr Mohammed.