Charlotte Bobcats

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Charlotte Bobcats
Conference	Eastern Conference
Division	Southeast Division
Founded	2004
History	Charlotte Bobcats 2004-present
Arena	Charlotte Bobcats Arena
City	Charlotte, North Carolina
Team Colors	Orange, Blue, Black and Silver
Owner	Robert L. Johnson Michael Jordan Nelly
Head Coach	Bernie Bickerstaff
Championships	0
Conference Titles	0
Division Titles	0

The Charlotte Bobcats are a professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

[edit] Home arenas

Charlotte Coliseum (2004-2005)

Charlotte Bobcats Arena (2005-present)

[edit] Franchise history

When the Charlotte Hornets relocated to New Orleans for the 2002-03 season, the city and the NBA agreed to create a new team in Charlotte for the 2004-05 season. Several ownership groups, including one led by former Boston Celtics star Larry Bird, made bids for the team. In the end, a group led by Black Entertainment Television founder Robert L. Johnson won out. Johnson is one of the first prominent African American owners in U.S. sports. On June 15, 2006 it was announced that NBA legend Michael Jordan would become the 2nd largest owner in the Bobcats second to Johnson himself. [1] Another notable co-owner is minority owner and rapper Nelly.

The Bobcats' name was voted upon, with the other possible choices having been the Charlotte Dragons or the Charlotte Flight (which actually won the public vote, mainly because of the Wright Brothers, and also the proclamation "First in Flight" on North Carolina's license plates). Despite not winning this vote, ultimately it was Johnson's call all along, as he went with his personal favorite, "Bobcats." The bobcat is one of the few indigenous predators to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County area of North Carolina. That paired with the fact that Charlotte is home to the NFL's Carolina Panthers made the cat-theme a natural choice to carry over to its new basketball team (in keeping up with the cat theme, the city's public-transit system is called CATS, short for "Charlotte Area Transit System"). Another suggested reason for the team's name is a derivation of the owner's name since he is a "cat named Bob."

One of the ironies in the formation of the franchise was the fact that despite numerous failed attempts at the ballot box to fully fund a new arena downtown, the city politicians decided to go ahead with the plans anyway and laid on a hotel and leisure tax in Charlotte to help pay for it. It was George Shinn, owner of the Hornets, who wanted the city of Charlotte to pay for a new arena all on its own as well, but did not get it, and subsequently left town for New Orleans. Johnson waltzed in and received probably an even better deal, as he actually receives the profits made off of the Charlotte Bobcats Arena. Since then, the Hornets have become the most despised team in Charlotte, for the same reasons that the Indianapolis Colts are reviled in Baltimore, Maryland, home to the Ravens.

The team plays in the Eastern Conference's Southeastern division, along with the Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks, and Washington Wizards.

The Bobcats held their expansion draft on Tuesday, June 22, 2004, picking up such seasoned players as Predrag Drobnjak and talented youngsters such as Gerald Wallace. However, Drobnjak would never play for the team, the Bobcats traded Drobnjak to the Atlanta Hawks for a 2005 second round draft pick. They also traded with the Los Angeles Clippers to acquire the second pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, which they used to select Emeka Okafor. He went on to win the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2005.

Their first game was a 103-96 loss to the Washington Wizards on November 4, 2004. They won their first game in franchise history over the Orlando Magic 111-100 on November 6. After losing their next 7 the Bobcats stunned the defending champion Detroit Pistons 91-89, proving though an expansion team they would not be pushovers. On December 14, the Bobcats really gave their fans something to roar about beating the New Orleans Hornets 94-93 in overtime in the team's first trip to Charlotte after the move. The Bobcats would go on to post an 18-64 record finishing in 4th place. After the regular season, they finished with the best record in one of the NBA's summer leagues, the Reebok Rocky Mountain Revue in Salt Lake City. In the 2005 NBA Draft, the Bobcats drafted two UNC players: guard Raymond Felton and forward Sean May. With these two players, in addition to Okafor, the Bobcats hoped to build a young, solid foundation for future success. They won their last four regular-season games to finish their second season at 26-56, an eight-game improvement over 2005.

[edit] Future

The Charlotte Bobcats seem to have a very strong future. They have an excellent salary cap situation and the third pick in the 2006 NBA Draft, which they used on one of Gonzaga University's best players from last year, Adam Morrison.

[edit] Alternate logos and uniforms

The Bobcats' alternate logo features an orange bobcat head on a blue and silver basketball. Since their creation the Bobcats have donned a white home uniform reading Bobcats in orange with dark blue, light blue, and black trimming. The Bobcats primary away jersey is orange reading Charlotte in white with dark blue, light blue, and black trimming. On August 16,2006 the Bobcats announced a new alternate away jersey for the upcoming 2006-2007 season. Bobcats president and chief operating officer Fred Whitfield told reporters "Alternate uniforms have proven to be very popular with fans across sports and we are proud to introduce our third uniform to Charlotte Bobcats fans". The new uniform will be Bobcat blue which reads Bobcats in white with black, orange, and white trimming.[2]

[edit] Season-by-season records

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, % = Win-Loss %

[edit] Current roster

Charlotte Bobcats Current Roster
Head Coach: Bernie Bickerstaff				Edit
G/F	15		Alan Anderson	(Michigan State)
C	7		Primož Brezec	(Slovenia)
SG	13		Matt Carroll	(Notre Dame)
PF/C	2		Melvin Ely	(Fresno State)
PG	20		Raymond Felton	(North Carolina)
PF/C	24		Othella Harrington	(Georgetown)
SF	5		Walter Herrmann	(Argentina)
C	1		Ryan Hollins	(UCLA)
PG	22		Brevin Knight	(Stanford)
PF	42		Sean May	(North Carolina)
SF	35		Adam Morrison	(Gonzaga)
PF/C	50		Emeka Okafor	(Connecticut)
SF	21		Bernard Robinson	(Michigan)
C	43		Jake Voskuhl	(Connecticut)
SF	3		Gerald Wallace	(Alabama)
				Charlotte Bobcats

[edit] Media Coverage

Bobcats basketball is heavily covered by News 14 Carolina which is owned by Time-Warner cable. Select games will be shown on WMYT-TV (MyNetworkTV) (starting with the 2006-07 seson) in Charlotte and it is unkown whether or not WRDC-TV (MyNetworkTV) in Raleigh will air Bobcats games in the 2006-07 season.

[edit] External links

• Official Charlotte Bobcats website
• Summer Pro League where Bobcats will play in the summer
• Charlotte Bobcats Fan Site BobcatsPlanet
• Charlotte Bobcats InsideHoops.com coverage
• Sports E-Cyclopedia
• Michael Jordan Becomes Part-Owner of Bobcats