Hornets All-Decade team: No-brainer Kemba Walker, but then it gets kind of dicey
This decade was less than stellar for the Charlotte Hornets: They won 41% of their games, made three playoff appearances and never advanced beyond the first round.
The worst was 7-59 in 2011-12 following an NBA lockout; the lowest single-season winning percentage in NBA history. The best was 48-34 in 2015-16, pushing the Miami Heat to seven games in the first round.
A five-man decade team for the Hornets? One name is a no-brainer. Two more are fairly easy calls. The last two are kinda dicey:
And so...
Kemba Walker
Not just the best Hornets resume of this decade, the best one ever: Point guard Walker holds numerous franchise records, topped by all-time scorer at 12,009 points. He was a three-time All-Star, one-time All-Star starter and All-NBA last season.
He wasn’t just in Charlotte, he became of Charlotte, famously screaming this is “my town” after a tough shot at Spectrum Center last season. Alas, the Hornets offered him far less than the most allowed under NBA rules, so he chose to sign in July with the Boston Celtics.
Pivoting to a rebuild might have been appropriate, but the Hornets letting their greatest player walk in his prime was tough on fans, and that is reflected right now in Charlotte’s wait-and-see view of this team.
Marvin Williams
When Marvin Williams signed with the Hornets in the summer of 2014, it didn’t seem like a major transaction. Five-plus seasons later, he has had a huge positive impact: Measurably, for his 3-point shooting and defense, but just as importantly as a leader and mentor.
Williams has a grace that puts him up there with Vlade Divac as the best teammate in this franchise’s history. He was never hung up on starting, and that made him all the more valuable when coach James Borrego chose to start rookie P.J. Washington this season.
Williams is in his 15th NBA season and his contract expires after this season. If he wants to keep playing, there will be plenty of teams interested because he is such a pro.
Al Jefferson
He wasn’t here long, playing just 185 games over three seasons from 2013 through 2016. But Jefferson’s first season was accomplished (All-NBA) and impactful: The then-Bobcats reached the playoffs in coach Steve Clifford’s first season largely on Jefferson’s post-up skills.
Jefferson is still the highest-profile free-agent signing since the NBA returned to Charlotte in 2004. He took a chance being here in part because he was recruited so hard, particularly by Walker, with whom Jefferson shared an agent.
Jefferson’s foot injury at the outset of the playoff series against the Heat derailed that team’s chances to reach the second round. He was never quite the same after that.
Gerald Wallace
I struggled with this call because Wallace played only 1 1/2 seasons in Charlotte this decade before being traded to the Portland Trail Blazers. However, Wallace was historically significant as the Bobcats’ first All-Star and he was still very good for the 2010 playoff team, averaging 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Wallace was nicknamed “Crash” for his constant willingness to sacrifice his body to make effort plays. He was the best player in the expansion draft and joined with Stephen Jackson to infuse a swagger that pushed the Bobcats to the first playoff appearance since the NBA returned to Charlotte.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
Because Kidd-Gilchrist was over-drafted with the second pick in 2012, I think there is negativity regarding his career here that is overstated.
The guy has started 356 games as a Hornet, He never really improved as a jump-shooter, but his defense was strong, particularly in its broad spectrum. In his prime, Kidd-Gilchrist guarded point guards to power forwards. That meant Kyrie Irving one night, LeBron James the next.
