Well, we did learn what the penalty is for DWI on the Hornets under Clifford 2.0 - apparently nothing since Bouknight played 14 minutes vs the Spurs.
New Orleans was in the midst of being sold when those shenanigans went down and were under league control. A trade was in place to send Chris Paul to the Lakers but Stern said no. Then the lotto happened and the new owner magically got Anthony Davis!
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Iām not impressed with the Hornets ownership or management. The Bouknight decision was just another entry in a long line of questionable decisions.
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Probably end up re-signing the wife beater too.
Admittedly that looks a little suspect. However, they also got Zion, who was arguably the most polarizing draft prospect since Lebron.
Not to mention that since Ewing in 1985, depending on you definition of āLarge marketā, the #1 pick has only gone to a large market only 8 times out of 37 drafts.
LA Clippers - 3 times
Phildelphia - 3 times
Chicago - 2 times
I def think they fixed the draft for Ewing and absolutely fixed it for AD when the league owned them. That doesnāt mean they take those steps each draft though. Of course I also think the NBA is not too far away from the WWE.
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Are you saying the Audit firm in on it too? Or am I thinking of the lottery?
I like how we try to stay connected with the pro teams in town (and vice versa). I know all of these teams are down right now. But it could be really good if we are on an upswing. Sports fans are sports fans. Overlapping demos. Yes, there is a limit to their discretionary budgets, but I think a lot of fans have tickets to multiple teams, and we tend to follow even more of them.
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The biggest thing to me is just be connected to the branding. The Panthers are CHARLOTTEāS NFL team. The Hornets are CHARLOTTEāS NBA team. We should be CHARLOTTEāS college team.
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Iām afraid thatās just never gonna happen NWA. Most older guys grew up as ACC fans and only the guys like us that went to Charlotte are Niners fans.
And IMHO, the younger set doesnāt give a rats ass about sports as any thing more than an evening outing from time to time
It could happen if we could get some sustained success. For us it would take getting a high roller with nothing better to do with their money except will us into a perennial winner in football and/or basketball.
the panthers and the hornets have struggled enough that we could have gained some fans if we had not been so bad ourselves.
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Winning would damn sure help. No doubt about that
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What is crazy is charlotte is not an ACC town anymore. It was for sure and older folks are, but the new folks in town are as likely to be SEC or B10 fans as they are ACC folks. Some sustained winning I think would turn lots of heads of folks that like college sports in this city.
The key is you have to win so that people feel pride in saying that school is in MY city - therefore that is my school, even if they have #1 allegiance elsewhere.
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Yes, i agree NWA. Everybody loves a winner.
Winning solves everything.
Bouknight was considered a good pick at that position by draft experts.
The Mark Williams pick has not been panned either. Too early to say on him.
What WAS questioned is their handling of the second pick last year. Heard a few experts say ācenter has been a weakness for Charlotte for years, why not keep them both?ā
Thatās what I thought they would and should have done.
The NBA is full of narcissistic clowns.
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Glad to see Nick Richards doing so well.
Thatās good player development and holding faith with your picks.
Fingers crossed he continues his stellar play.
Yes, good to see Richards playing well. However, it makes the Mark Williams pick look like a waste. I know itās early. But I believe the Hornets had hopes that Williams would be able to beat out Richards for playing time.