‘This is home now’: What has Coby White so excited to join Charlotte Hornets
Fresh off a plane and finally inside the Toyota Center with a new cast of characters, Coby White stood on the baseline while the activity buzzed around him.
A whirlwind was semi-complete and White couldn’t have been more thrilled.
“As soon as I touched down, I felt wanted,” White told The Charlotte Observer in a quiet moment before the Charlotte Hornets took on the Houston Rockets on Thursday night. “I called my family, and I’m like, ‘Everybody here is just super-welcoming and super-nice. And they keep talking about long term, long term, long term.’ And just hearing that somewhere where you’re valued for a long term, especially being back home, it means a lot.”
Tipping off a flurry of moves prior to Thursday’s NBA trade deadline, the Hornets acquired White along with Mike Conley Jr. from the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday in exchange for Collin Sexton, Ousmane Dieng — picked up earlier in the day from Oklahoma City for Mason Plumlee — and three second-round picks to bring the North Carolina native home.
Charlotte also sent cash considerations to Orlando for Tyus Jones and two second-round picks late Wednesday night before shipping Jones to Dallas for Malaki Branham, creating a $7 million trade exception. Conley was waived Thursday, freeing the veteran 19-year guard to sign with a playoff contender, and seems to be on a reunion course with Minnesota.
But White is the headliner and the main catch for Jeff Peterson, the Hornets’ president of basketball operations. White has torched the Hornets in their meetings, seemingly saving some of his best performances for whenever Chicago took on Charlotte.
And don’t think that wasn’t something the Hornets noticed and were well aware of.
“Yeah, it stood out for sure,” coach Charles Lee told The Observer. “To our staff, it stood out to our front office and then everyone you talk to, the intel on him as a person is what’s really important to our group, too. As you’re trying to develop a culture of daily improvement, of people that love and have gratitude for everything in front of them and the people around them.
“He’s going to embody a lot of the Hornets’ DNA, which is what’s so exciting about adding him to our group.”
Peterson could barely contain his enthusiasm. He was even-keeled as usual during his chat with the media at Spectrum Center after the deadline, mentioning how he watched White compete in the McDonald’s All-American game.
“Just his energy, he’s the guy that plays the game with joy, with passion. He’s a winner. He loves to compete and as you can see, that’s what we want to be about here. He’s a dynamic shooter, his offensive skill set is high-level. So, just being able to add a guy like that is very exciting, and we hope that he’s going to be a Hornet for a long time.”
White, in the final year of his contract, turned down an extension from the Bulls this past offseason, instead choosing to become an unrestricted free agent come June. That didn’t scare off the Hornets.
In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
“Just being able to acquire Coby and being able to acquire his Bird rights is very, very important for us in terms of how we’re operating and how we are building it out,” Peterson said. “So, as I said earlier, he fits everything that we want to be about and hope that he’s a Hornet for a very long time.”
That would probably make plenty of people in Goldsboro, where White was born, and Wilson, where he starred at Greenfield High School prior to going to play for the Tar Heels, rather pleased. Simply hearing Peterson say how much the Hornets already value him isn’t lost on White.
“It makes me feel great,” White said, “because l’m going into a situation where I was with the Bulls and I knew I was going to be an unrestricted free agent this summer. And for them to take a chance and trade for me speaks volumes. So, it means a lot that obviously the GM is talking about saying, ‘I want you to be around a long time.’ So, for me, it’s just a blessing.
“I loved my time in Chicago and I love the front office there, that gave me an opportunity. But just being here now, this is where I’m at. This is home now. So, I’m excited. And like I said, I’m in a really blessed position to be where I’m at considering the circumstances that I’m in.”
White’s debut will have to wait, though.
Peterson suggested the Hornets intend on being cautious with White, who’s nursing a left calf strain. He missed the Bulls’ first 11 games of the season with a right calf strain, and was sidelined again in December and part of January before returning.
He suited up in 11 of Chicago’s past 12 games prior to the deal and is confident it’s nothing that should nag him too much.
“I’m feeling solid,” White said. “I’m very optimistic about it. It’s nothing crazy, just general soreness, tightness that they don’t want to risk anything happening in a short amount of time before the All-Star break. So, definitely try to just get it right and do what I can, everything I can to get back out there after the All Star break for sure.”
When he’s ready to go, Lee envisions him contributing in a variety of ways.
“I think he’s just going to continue to add to our depth,” Lee said. “I think he’s going to add to our ability to have a lot of versatile offense, because I do think that he can play with the ball in his hands, he can play off the ball.
“His ability to shoot the 3, his ability to get to the free throw line and drive it and get a piece of the paint. … A big part of Chicago’s game was drive-and-kick, and he was one of their main creators in doing that.”
White already views himself as a major fit with the Hornets. He’s ready to contribute and integrate himself into a core featuring LaMelo Ball, Kon Kueppel and Brandon Miller.
“Obviously, it’s the younger team, but it’s a [ton] of talent, great talent here,” White said. “And I just want to add to that. I want to use what I’ve learned through my time in Chicago, being in all these different type of scenarios, playing all these different type of roles when I was in Chicago, and just bring it here in terms of leadership-wise.
“Just help any way that I can. Whether that’s leadership on the court, off the court, whatever that may be. I still want to be myself and be who I am, but also fit into everything they’re trying — we’re trying — to do. Which is helpful because I feel like everything we’re trying to do is how I play and what I embody my character as a person.”
This story was originally published February 5, 2026 at 8:54 PM with the headline "‘This is home now’: What has Coby White so excited to join Charlotte Hornets."
