New year, different Hornets? This 2025 resolution must be priority for Charlotte’s NBA team
When you really think about it for a minute, particularly as it relates to the pulse of the franchise, few can offer the unique perspective of Seth Curry.
The Charlotte Hornets’ guard is a part of the city’s basketball royalty, a member of its first family of hoops in a sense. As the son of Dell Curry, the team’s longtime color analyst, ambassador and holder of several meaningful statistical marks in the history of pro basketball in the Carolinas, Seth Curry’s vantage point is like few others.
Who else has been around the Hornets’ inner workings since he first started teething, hanging around with Dad doing his thing on the court, and actually wound up in the same situation in his 30s?
That’s why Curry’s answer about the Spectrum Center’s atmosphere during Monday night’s overtime defeat to the Chicago Bulls, fueled by the second sellout in as many games, gives insight into how things would be if the Hornets can reverse course and start winning consistently.
“It was big,” Curry said. “You could just feel the energy heading into timeouts and going into the fourth quarter. You could just feel the energy in the timeouts. They had our back (Monday) and we need that. We need that energy and hopefully we can put a better product out there and keep getting better to give back to the fans.
“It’s been good to see that during the holidays, the fans coming out and supporting, and we try to go out there every night and compete, and give the city something to get behind.”
Anyone with an inkling about the history of the early years of NBA basketball in Charlotte can attest to what’s considered the franchise’s glory days, when Charlotte Coliseum was rocking and rolling because going to Hornets games was the in-thing to do, evidenced by more than a few dressing up in their Sunday best, showing up to cheer on the home team in a tuxedo or evening gown.
But those times seem like ages ago, especially when a whole generation of basketball fans in this region has yet to experience the exhilaration of capturing a playoff series, bringing about visions of what could go down in the next round. And that’s the precise reason why there’s only one resolution the Hornets should be sorely focused on as the calendar shifts to 2025.
It’s beyond time to put Charlotte back on the map, providing fans what they’re justifiably owed: a hard-working, well-constructed team that can be proudly cheered for, one that doesn’t go nine years and counting without making the playoffs. No more excuses.
An oft-injured team filled with young talent but isn’t producing wins at a better rate doesn’t typically draw throngs of onlookers unless the majority are there to support the visitors. But here are the Hornets (7-25) entering Friday’s matchup in Detroit with the Pistons as losers of 16 of their past 17 games, including eight straight, and speeding in the wrong direction, seemingly grasping for air before hitting the halfway mark of the season.
They’ve dropped their past 10 games at home, yet the virtual turnstiles — tickets are electronic these days — are still racking up decent numbers, figures that would be even larger if the team emerged victorious more consistently. The support, as Curry mentioned, hasn’t gone unnoticed and the Hornets understand it could easily be different.
And not in a good way.
“Definitely a lot of credit to the fans for coming out despite all the losses we’ve been having,” Miles Bridges told The Observer after Tuesday’s practice. “That just shows how much love for basketball this city has. That’s why I feel like we owe it to them to get some wins, have a better January, February and hopefully make a push for the playoffs.”
Those words would be music to the ears of avid followers of the purple and teal. Because as it pertains to 2024-25, from the average fan’s perspective the Hornets have probably fallen below early expectations for a few reasons, mostly due to external optics.
For one, things haven’t gone well record-wise and the franchise’s lone true moment in the national spotlight was regrettable after the on court PS5 incident that went viral for the wrong reasons. Second, the team has been besieged by injuries to its key players yet again, repeating a common theme from season’s past that led to the Hornets to raise the stakes with a new 10-person health and performance staff.
Plus, barring a sudden string of victories over the coming weeks before the league’s trade deadline in February, when broadcasts begin putting up the graphic that reads “longest playoff drought for four major American pro sports leagues,” the Hornets’ name will be entrenched next to the NBA’s logo once again.
Charlotte needs to be erased off that list and it’s a travesty if it doesn’t happen.
Just listen to the team’s all-time leading scorer, and how much he yearns for Hornets’ success when discussing his love for the area and team that drafted him in 2011, which is one of the many reasons he returned to the franchise as a player enhancement coach on Charles Lee’s staff.
“I know how bad this city wants the Hornets to win, and I know how this city would rally behind the team, behind the club when we’re winning,” Kemba Walker told The Observer. “That’s what they want. They deserve it, man. Obviously, I was here for eight years so they deserve a winning culture.
“That’s why I wanted to be back. I want to help be a part of that, help build it back up. Help get the fans back with us because we need them.”
