Charlotte Bobcats

The Charlotte Bobcats are a professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association. The Bobcats joined the league in 2004, two seasons after Charlotte's previous NBA team, the Charlotte Hornets, relocated to New Orleans and became the New Orleans Hornets.

Along with the Dallas Mavericks and Philadelphia 76ers, the Bobcats support the Fort Worth Flyers, an NBA Development League team located in Texas. The Bobcats were also the brother team of the Charlotte Sting of the WNBA before the Sting folded on January 3, 2007

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 was awarded the franchise. Johnson is one of the first prominent African American owners in U.S. professional sports. On June 15, 2006 it was announced that NBA legend Michael Jordan would become the second largest shareholder in the Bobcats. Another notable co-owner is the rapper Nelly.

In June 2003, the new team was named the Bobcats. Bobcats, along with Charlotte Flight and Charlotte Dragons were the top three choices as voted by fans. The Charlotte Regional Sports Commission aided with the "Help Name The Team" effort that drew over 1,250 suggestions. The bobcat is one of the few indigenous predators to the Carolinas. Charlotte, already being home to the NFL's Carolina Panthers, made the cat-related name a natural choice for the area's new basketball team. The name is also a nod to owner Robert L. Johnson, "Bob" being an abbreviation of "Robert."

One of the ironies in the formation of the franchise was the fact that despite failed attempts at the ballot box to fully fund a new arena downtown, city politicians decided to go ahead with plans and implemented a hotel and leisure tax in Charlotte to help pay for it. George Shinn, owner of the Hornets, also wanted the city of Charlotte to pay for a new arena, and subsequently left town for New Orleans when the city failed to do so.

The Bobcats held their expansion draft on Tuesday, June 22, 2004, picking up such seasoned players as Predrag Drobnjak and talented youngsters such as Sacramento Kings's former forward 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 Connecticut Huskie's center, 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 (formerly co-owned by Michael Jordan) 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 seven games, the Bobcats stunned the defending champion Detroit Pistons 91-89. 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 in their division. 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 North Carolina 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. The Bobcats selected Adam Morrison from Gonzaga University with the third pick in the 2006 NBA Draft. In late November 2006, the Bobcats waived guard Alan Anderson, who played 2.0 points and 1.3 rebounds in 10.2 minutes, to make room for the acquisition of veteran Derek Anderson. After an injury to part-time starting point guard Brevin Knight that would sideline him for at least a month, the Bobcats traded Bernard Robinson to the New Jersey Nets for point guard Jeff McInnis and cash considerations on January 3rd, 2007.

On March 13, 2007, a statement issued by part-owner Michael Jordan indicated that Bobcats head coach Bernie Bickerstaff would not return to coach the 2007-08 season. Jordan stated that Bickerstaff would finish the rest of the current season and that he remained an integral part of the organization. Candidates interviewing for the head coaching position included Stan Van Gundy, Paul Silas, Herb Williams, and Mike Fratello. On May 25, 2007 the Bobcats announced that Sam Vincent, a former assistant with the Dallas Mavericks, would be the second coach in franchise history.


**WIKIPEDIA.ORG