| | The Charlotte Hornets start their 13th season in the NBA with an exhibition game against the Lakers in New Orleans. Come next season, the Hornets might be playing all their home games in the Big Easy.
|  | | Derrick Coleman's driving abilities became part of Charlotte's problems. |
Yes, things are that bad down in North Carolina.
The team that sold out every home game for eight consecutive years now can't sell more than half its arena to season-ticket holders.
The team that once stood as an expansion model has quickly become a model for how not to run a franchise on the court or off it.
The important question facing Charlotte's elected officials is not what will happen to them if the Hornets pull up stakes and leave town, but whether they can be re-elected if they give owners George Shinn and Ray Wooldridge the sweetheart deal they claim they need to remain.
Make no mistake, even the city acknowledges the Hornets need a new building to stay in business, although there are suspicions that $1 million a month in losses are bookkeeping calculations tied to the lockout.
Is this a game of chicken they are playing? Certainly. But the city of Charlotte is yawning.
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But it's more than problems on the court for a team that won 54 games two years ago. It's also bad judgment and charges of criminal conduct on the part of some players. |
A month ago, it appeared that co-owner Wooldridge would pull off a coup and get the downtown suite arena deal Shinn was unable to land. But shifts in public sentiment in an election year have made city officials very uneasy, and now the Hornets' arena bid is very much in jeopardy again.
A source close to the situation said Monday that a clause in the Hornets' Charlotte Coliseum lease requires the city to produce a viable new arena plan this winter or risk losing the team.
However, this is superseded by another clause that says the team can leave without paying a $20 million penalty so long as season ticket sales are less than 15,750 on Jan. 1. So far, the Hornets acknowledge sales are no more than 12,000 to 14,000 sold in a building that seats 23,799. However, the source said, the Hornets' estimates might be on the high side. "We hear that it could be less than 12,000 with no strong sentiment to go out and buy tickets after what took place in the offseason."
What took place? Well, the Hornets lost another outstanding free agent.
When Eddie Jones forced a deal to Miami, he became the 22nd free agent to leave the team under the administration of Bob Bass, vice president for basketball operations. More than 60 players have worn teal uniforms during Bass' tenure. From a team that last summer was regarded as a legitimate contender in the East, the Hornets return only five of their top 10 players, excluding the late Bobby Phills.
In fact, the Hornets have not been able to keep a player of consequence since Shinn brought fellow NBA owners down on his head with an absurd $84 million deal for Larry Johnson in 1993 when LJ was only two years into a long rookie contract.
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| Divac |
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| Rice |
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| Mourning |
Under Bass, whose hands might well be tied by Shinn, the Hornets have been forced to give up Alonzo Mourning, Glen Rice, Vlade Divac and now Jones because they would not pay market value or because the players (as in the case of Jones) did not want to be there. Stack those names against those of Derrick Coleman, David Wesley, Phills and Eldridge Recasner, all free agents signed by Bass.
Anthony Mason was hoping to finish his career in Charlotte with one more contract when he was tossed into the Jones deal. The Hornets also lost young backup center Brad Miller because they refused to pay him the maximum $3.8 million allowed a capped team and said bring us an offer. Miller's agent, Mark Bartelstein, did. It was a signed and delivered deal from the Bulls.
But it's more than problems on the court for a team that won 51 games in 1997-98. It's also bad judgment and charges of criminal conduct on the part of some players, and the perception of misconduct on the part of Shinn. The only owner in the NBA to schedule nightly pre-game prayer, the diminutive Shinn was seen on Court TV last season defending himself in a civil suit against an accusation of sexual misconduct. He previously had been accused of consorting with team cheerleaders and has gone into exile in Florida to escape the constant public relations barrage.
Coleman has been in a series of skirmishes with the law, including a DUI charge from an accident that resulted in serious injury to Recasner. Mason was accused of misconduct with teenage girls in New York and of fighting with a policeman this summer in New Orleans. Recasner, in a state of anguish over his own health and that of his mother, went over a ticket counter to get at an airline employee. Wesley had to beat a charge of street racing in the death of Phills as the two sped away from shooting practice on a fateful winter morning.
It's a terrible legacy. A Bible Belt community that already endured the fraud of the Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker show has had about had enough of this one.
Wooldridge, who will become sole owner in a few years, must pull off a small miracle to win the hearts that Bass and Shinn have lost.
The only viable option would appear to be New Orleans, which has a new arena replete with the suites that are missing in Charlotte, no tenant and an apparent willingness to give away the house. Whether the town can support an NBA team is another matter. Remember, the Jazz failed here, the Hawks played 12 games in 1984-85 to small crowds and commissioner David Stern would not allow the Timberwolves to come under the influence of boxing promoter Bob Arum, who had tickets to the town that care forgot.
Stern can't stop the move, but he can levy transfer fees that are so onerous, the Hornets have no choice but to stay.
The battle off the court this season for the Hornets might be far more interesting than the games they play on it.
Jeffrey Denberg, who covers the NBA for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. | |
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