Bobcats Go Extinct

Michael Jordan may have finally made a smart move. 

Not a well understood move, but it was assuredly a smart one. The old Hornets of Charlotte, before they moved to New Orleans, had a dedicated fan base and a supportive city behind them.

Then became the 2004 expansion team, the Bobcats. 

Led by BET founder, Robert L. Johnson, the name Bobcats arrised to honor the owner of the team, which seems a tad arrogant. The Charlotte Flight, the winning name voted by the fans, was disregarded by Bob, a fantastic way to start a relationship with the fans. Bob also tried to market the Bobcats with low prices so that anyone could get good seats to the games, which came across as cheap and a relatively bad idea. The city of Charlotte never really warmed up to Bob or his business tactics, and an attendance problem quickly formed which stunted the growth of the organization. Then Michael Jordan joined management and the team instantly became championship contenders after smart draft picks and savvy trades by the Chicago Bulls legend. 

Yeah, right. 

In 2007, Charlotte drafted Brandan Wright with the eighth pick. Ahead of Joakim Noah, Thaddeus Young, Andre Blatche, Jared Dudley, Wilson Chandler, Tiago Splitter, Carl Landry, Marc Gasol,  even Nick Young and many more relevant names in the league today.  

2008 was D.J Augustine with the ninth pick, ahead of great players like Brook Lopez, Roy Hibbert, Serge Ibaka, Nic Batum, and George Hill.

I could go on forever. 

But Jordan made a smart move here by changing the name, for once, after becoming the majority owner of the organization. At least he's trying to separate himself from the terrible relationship Bob created between the organization and the city. 

In a total rebuilding effort (it seems like every year Charlotte is rebuilding), the Bobcats, I mean Hornets, have made some sort of smart moves, like drafting Kemba Walker and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. 

But that doesn't even out anything, not even close. Like signing Tyrus Thomas in 2010 to a ridiculous contract or trading for Ben Gordon and his ridiculous contract in 2012. Most recently the executive genius known as Air Jordan signed Al Jefferson this summer for three years, $41 million total. 

Wait, aren't they rebuilding? It's not even worth reasoning that move...because nobody can. 

So here's to Charlotte turning a new leaf in an effort to rebrand the team. I hope they get their shit together soon, but even if they do, I'm sure Jordan will eventually find a way to screw things up, again.