Hello Hornets fans! Andrew Lail, writer from Trade Street Post here, dusting off the keyboard to be that, honest, to the point, straightforward writer that covered the Bobcats to Hornets for 12 years.

I think it may be time to “Bring Back the Post”.

Since I’ve been off the scene for a bit, bear with me. I wanted to start off by reintroducing myself, and to just let you know what Trade Street Post was all about. We were made up of a group of fans who loved NBA Basketball in Charlotte, we followed the Hornets until they were thrown to New Orleans. For me, I stopped paying much attention to the NBA until the Bobcats reappeared as the NBA in Charlotte again. TV coverage sucked, and the only way to see games were to find less-than-trustworthy feeds on the internet, or to listen to a radio broadcast. From those options, along with Yahoo having chat rooms, having back and forth banter with a few of the guys earned us the attention and the shot to run our own fan site. We would write game recaps player analysis, suggest trade ideas, and even offer up draft suggestion.

As we evolved, the goal became to become a voice. We didn’t want to be any voice, but to be the voice of the fans to the team. We also wanted to be the organization’s voice to the fans. Charlotte being a small-market team, there’s a closeness to the organization. The fans feel closer to the players. They feel like the guys are a part of their families. Because of that, fans can give some pretty harsh opinions. Harsh opinions can make families not talk. My goal was to always take fan opinions, filter them out and find better ways to share them with the team, then if the organization would respond, share it with the fans.

Enough about me, let’s talk about this team. These Hornets…our Murder Bees

Our Hornets are locked in to be in the playoffs this year. Aside from Charles Barkley and the TNT crew, who else knows? Who else is talking about the Hornets? What is it going to take to get respect in the league?

I ask this because I know we have all seen the foul shot discrepancies in our games. In an evenly called game, there are few teams in the league that can beat us. So, why can’t we get a fair shake?

Who can answer this for me?

What’s it going to take to get the NBA as a company and the officials to give us the respect we deserve.

We are, technically, poised to be the small-guy, underdog, hero-story of the NBA, should they be willing to embrace us.

Look at our franchise history:

Hornets franchise begins, leaves Charlotte, returns as the Bobcats who were historically bad, the GOAT of the NBA owns them and does nothing with them positively, and then, between passionate owners, great draft picks, good health, an amazing coach who has the locker room, and truly unselfish play, the Hornets climb up out of the darkness to become one of the most elite, talented, hard-working, blue-collar, and fun to watch teams that has ever existed.

There may be a run-on sentence or 2 in there, but damn it’s powerful and true.

As for our team and injuries this season, or the lack thereof, look at the makeup of this team.

I think…

no…I know that players like Kon, Kalkbrenner, and Miller have played games with nagging injuries, but there is a reason for that.

It’s a simple reason.

These guys want to play and they want to win. They want to be competitive and they want to lift Hornets basketball up to where it should be.

The toughness that they are showing is inspirational and it is writing the narrative of what this team is becoming It is defining our character and what our culture is. That Hive Mentality. It is a very real thing

Our rookies and other young talent has stepped in and shown the vets that they aren’t giving up, and they will play through pain, bad calls, missed calls, or whatever the league throws at them in order to get those wins…that was what was in their DNA. That DNA infected the entire team. Guys like Melo and Miles , the leaders, saw this and stepped up to be the leaders they needed to be.

Coach Lee did what he had to do in order to learn his players, to push them to their limits, and keep them out of their comfort zone.

Add in a guy with a motor and energy like Moussa, the support of Pat C. Cheering from the bench, and the passion for the city, for his hometown in Grant Williams. People have to understand the impact this creates and the importance of team chemistry.

The new ownership, the GM, the coaching staff, and anyone/everyone that has any sort of team contact to make the culture build and grow(and yes, we as fans are included in that…making a home court advantage a real thing again). We are all a part of an amazing group of chemists that have put all we have now together and created the culture of this team and given it a solid and positively image again

We even get to look forward to PJ Hall, Liam McNeely, to Salaün grow their talent and be solid layers for n the very near future.

Our draft picks have been stellar. These are actual good players that will be able to help the team.

Now factor in that we have first round picks this summer from other teams that will be mid-range in the draft, and a deep talent pool to choose from.

I truly believe that we are entering that era where we are not a middling team anymore, but will be a perennial playoff team for years to come. It’s been a long time coming.

Hive Mentality y’all

#KeepSwarming!