We were just CC’d in an email a LONG TIME Hornets season ticket holder just sent the team.

We believe it’s imperative that local and national media take a good long hard look at this email when forming their narrative of the Hornets fanbase.

Dear #%^*{

I hope things are going well for you guys and you’ve had some time to enjoy your summer.

I know you read my previous email but I wanted to just get a few things off my chest, knowing that a couple of these emails may circulate themselves through the ranks of Managers and potentially beyond. I hope it is seen, I certainly don’t need a reply about how “Kemba Walker…blah blah blah” it’s not about that.

Basketball is business, player moves are business, and it’s not all about who fans like or gravitate towards when player personnel moves are made. The Kemba Walker decision is the same, and I don’t agree with our approach, I’ve disagreed before knowing the previously stated but I get it. Just like my job, we like players that we pass on, we don’t spend money on certain guys that we probably should and they walk away and you must be confident in doing better with the next guy. That’s exactly where I’m at with this team, I’m ready to walk.  Ready to walk away from season tickets, for the first time in my life. I’m paying $4,000 a year for what has been losing basketball since my seats increased by 20% in 2016. They went up $800 in a single off season.Since then, they’ve not made the playoffs and not been above .500 and won on average 20 games per year at the Hive.

Since 1988, my father and I have had season tickets, the older I got the more of paying stake I’ve had in it. I currently live in the Triad, and my father in the mountains. We both drove from mountains to Charlotte from 1988-2001. Since the Hornets returned in 2014 we both drove from our homes in the Triad/Mountains, 150 round trip for us both. The truth is, when I look at the numbers below, it’s not worth it.  I don’t feel appreciated at all by the team after my tickets were raised 20% in 2016. Why should I continue this? What hope should I have with this team? Because you gave me a starter jacket, $20 worth of buzz bucks (that didn’t cover a large popcorn & drink), and named a 30^th Anniversary Team of Players that are more synonymous with other teams and have their jerseys hanging in their arenas already… Why should I do this:

·         My father and/or I have driven 86,250 miles to Hornets games, which would be nearly $50,000 of vehicle depreciation at $.55 a mile.

·         We’ve paid $5,750 in parking alone over the years.

·         I’ll lose by $2,000 already paid for next season. I know you’ll love keeping that and then charging the next poor bastard $6,000 for my $4,000 seats that are probably only worth $3,000.

·         I spend twice as much in the fan shop than my wife thinks I already do. Every time a friend has a baby, the baby gets a Hornets onesie… they still will.

·         I spent $1000 to watch the All-Star game. NOTHING to say thank you. Because you didn’t feel like you needed to, that’s because you knew someone would buy it.

·         We’ve not even spoke about the ticket costs… that’s another $50,000.

We could go on and on and on about these numbers. The love I have for the team trumps it all, it was all worth it. I have pictures as a 3-year-old in a Rex Chapman Jersey, employees at the old coliseum would give me Christmas cards and I would return. Own George Shinn once handed me a Christmas Card with a $100 bill in it when I was 10 years old. I’ll never forget the playoff game vs Boston; I’ll never forget sweeping Miami. But this has become a business decision for me. I spend nearly $100 every time I come to a game in Charlotte on top of $90 worth of tickets that I cannot sell on the secondary market for what is the required ticket price on Ticketmaster’s site. It happened most of this year. I’m taking the gamble and I’m going to assume I can sit CLOSER for LESS over the next 2-3 seasons using the secondary market, like others have done to me for the past 2-3 years.

I already know Charlotte is “One of the Best 5 Bargains in the NBA”. Well it should be, we have a bottom 5 team and no longer have an all-star that makes the product worth it paying for on a nightly basis. Charlotte is growing and I’m sure business for you guys will still boom. Plenty of socialites will want somewhere to bring their tinder dates. The growth of the city is hiding the truth from the team and driving a stake between the true fans. The ones that wear their jerseys and hats, not the ones that come in mid-way through the second quarter and leave when they feel they can beat traffic.

I’ll always be a Hornets fan. The players are completely separate from this. I’m as loyal as I was when they broke my heart and moved to New Orleans. Standing by the tunnel as Jason Kidd & the next beat us. Waiting in the parking lot watching the last of the players leave, seeing David Wesley’s escalade pulling out onto Tyvola. You see when the team moved, and returned as the Hornets in 2014 it was just a band aid to save the NBA’s worst franchise. That’s not your fault now but it’s still your problem to figure out. The name change was incredible; but no longer enough. I’m nostalgic, not stupid. I’m doing this while a family friend was drafted by you guys! 

I’ll buy tickets to 8-12 games, probably only 8 for the next few years but I’ll be there for the Celtics game because Kemba Walker deserves my money. He deserves my time and deserves to know how much he should feel appreciated. I know how he feels because you’ve made me feel the same way.

You see, the Hornets don’t appreciate me and they haven’t for a while. They know they can get some other guy, and he’ll pay more than I did. You’ll come out “on top” and have another plastic fan with a tinder date in my spot. To come to think of it… I feel like Kemba.

(Image from wcti12.com)

Following a four-point loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder after blowing a twenty-point lead, it can be easy for fans to quickly become negative and categorize this team as the same old Hornets. Plain and simple, this team is not the same Charlotte Hornets. Change is visible from the coaching staff to the court, and for the first time in what feels like forever, it is not negative. Remove yourself from the emotion of blowing a lead at home and look at what the Hornets have done thus far. Three loses have been to teams in the mix for a top four seed in the east (Milwaukee, Toronto, and Philadelphia) with two of those being on the road. These were games that we could’ve won, but it certainly wasn’t an expectation given the team we fielded last year. The other two loses were a road game to a winless Bulls team who was hungry for their first win, and a struggling OKC team with two legitimate stars at home. Minus the Bulls loss, we have not lost a single game that we should’ve won easily. My point? We are beating the teams we should be beating, which any Hornets fan should know isn’t exactly normal for this organization.

While the wins and loses are fun to look at, the on-court evaluation is where this Hornets team begins to separate itself from years past. The young talent on this team is eye opening. The bench depth this team has is far better than the torment we had to endure watching when the starters came off the court last year, and we have a coach that has adapted to the new NBA by playing a fast-paced offense and shooting lots of threes. Starting with young talent, despite Bridges and Monk both only being twenty years old, they have shown so many flashes of brilliance that you cannot help but wonder how talented they may be in the future. While it is early, Bridges looks to be the best draft pick since Kemba, and should be a lock to participate in the dunk contest already with how many highlights he has produced in nine games. Monk on the other hand has shown he has all the talent to be a legit back court option to take the load off Kemba, with the only question for him being his defensive ability. The bottom line is, if these two continue to receive playing time from coach Borrego, there is no doubt we will begin to see some solid talent forming around Kemba.

Looking back at last year’s bench, we suffered through MCW, Jeremy Lamb, Treveon Graham, Frank, and Cody Zeller, with Malik Monk, and Dwayne Bacon getting limited minutes behind them. After the starters, we had zero defense, a point guard who was incapable of running an offense and continually missed easy layups, and no true scorer outside of Jeremy Lamb. In comparison to the bench this year, you cannot help but be joyful to see a future Hall of Famer in Tony Parker running the point when the starters leave the court. This allows our offense to flow much better when Kemba needs rest, and hopefully will allow him to sustain his high level of play through the entire season and into the playoffs. Also, our second unit is vastly improved from last year with MKG moved to the bench, and Bridges playing next to him. They both provide solid defense on the wing, and are versatile enough to guard anyone on the court if it is required. The biggest takeaway from the bench though is that they have not been prone to blowing leads this season, which was a trademark for last year’s bench. Actually, this bench has come in and sparked the team to play better because of the flare Monk and Bridges seem to show off on a nightly basis.

(Image from CharlotteObserver.com)

Lastly, coach Borrego’s new system seems to be getting the most out of our players, and fits well in today’s modern NBA. Yes, you could argue there have been several mistakes Borrego has made in regard to his rotations early on, but you must remember this is his first year being a head coach, so there will obviously be some adjustments he will have to make. The important thing, however, is that he seems to have a good coaching style, and seems flexible with who is playing night in and night out. One of the biggest issues I had with coach Clifford last year was that the rotation that was like clockwork. Every team knew who would be on the floor at what time, and he would not adjust it regardless of the matchup. Borrego searching for the players that will hustle on the court will hopefully prevent complacency, and allow the players that deserve to be on the court to get minutes.

All of these things are not only welcome changes from last year, but seem to bode well for seasons to come with this Hornets team. My goal and other fans’ goal for this team should be to win a playoff series this year. That would be a massive step in the right direction, and give us something to build on with our young talent entering a pivotal time in Hornets franchise history.