Special Comment: It was about time those sorry Philadelphia 76ers won a game

And now at the request of Jake "The Boss" Cook, another "Special Comment" about why it was about time the Philadelphia 76ers won a game, and why are they destined to get the top pick in the NBA Draft later this summer.

Last night in Philadelphia, the biggest disappointment in the NBA this season, the Philadelphia 76ers, finally won a game that should have cared less about, a 123-98 blowout win over the Detroit Pistons, and that win snapped a long, disastrous, yet humiliating 26-game losing streak. A 26-game losing streak? TO ME, THAT IS THE BIGGEST PIECE OF B.S. I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE AS A NBA FAN!  YOU ARROGANT BUMS WASTED THE LAST 2 AND 1/2 MONTHS NOT GIVING A HOOT ABOUT WINNING, YOU ONLY CARED ABOUT LOSING OUT TO GET THAT COVETED TOP PICK IN THE NBA DRAFT LATER THIS SUMMER, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! UN THE LAST THREE YEARS I HAVE DONE THESE SERIES OF "SPECIAL COMMENTS", WHICH WAS MODELED AFTER WHAT MY IDOL, KEITH OLBERMANN DID DURING HIS DAYS AT MSNBC AND THE NOW-DEFUNCT CURRENT TV, EACH ONE OF THEM HAS CENTERED AROUND ONE THING: GETTING PEOPLE TO FACE THE TRUTH, AND AS FOR YOU, PHILADELPHIA 76ERS, THE TRUTH I'M ADDRESSING TO YOU TODAY IS GOING TO HURT! IT'S TRUE, IT'S TRUE!

I checked the standings in the Eastern Conference not too long ago, and you guys are 16-57. 16-57? NO WONDER YOU GUYS ARE ONE OF THE TWO DISAPPOINTING TEAMS I HAVE EVER SEEN IN THE NBA, ALONG WITH THE ORLANDO MAGIC, MILWAUKEE BUCKS, HECK, YOU CAN ALSO THROW IN THE UTAH JAZZ AND LOS ANGELES LAKERS INTO THE LIST OF TEAMS THAT ARE VYING FOR THE DRAFT IN THE FIRST PLACE!

WHO IS RUNNING THIS MESS UP IN PHILADELPHIA? HECK, YOU GUYS MAY HAVE GONE ALL RUBEN AMARO, JR. AND HIRED A COACH WHO INSPIRED YOU TO LOSE A LOT OVER THE LAST 2 1/2 MONTHS YOU HAVEN'T WON A GAME UNTIL LAST NIGHT? WELL, BRETT BROWN, YOU MIGHT HAVE A CASE OF "MIKE DUNLAP SYNDROME" BECAUSE YOU SIR, MR. BROWN, HAVE NO BUSINESS OF BEING A FIRST-YEAR HEAD COACH WHO'S PLAYING TO GET AXED OUT OF A CITY THAT LOVES THEIR SPORTS, AND YOUR FOOTBALL TEAM GOT RID OF DESEAN JACKSON, HECK YOUR PHILLIES MIGHT STINK UP THE JOINT AND FAIL AGAIN, BUT YOUR BASKETBALL TEAM MAN, YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A BIG, MISERABLE, IGNORANT BUNCH OF LOSERS WHO DION'T EVEN CARE ABOUT WINNING A GAME AND ARE NOW "TANKING FOR WIGGINS" GIVE. ME. A . FREAKING. BREAK!

LOOK AT WHAT YOU DONE, PHILADELPHIA 76ERS, YOU HAVE NOW BECOME THE WORST TEAM I HAVE EVER SEEN IN THE NBA THIS SEASON, AND I GUARANTEE A SO-CALLED "FIRE SALE" WILL BE COMING SOONER OR LATER ONCE YOUR SEAON OF FAILURE WRAPS UP, AND IF I WAS A 76ERS FAN, THE FIRST THING I WOULD DO IS FIRING YOUR COACH THAT HAS GOTTEN YOU INTO THIS BIG DEPACLE IN THE FIRST PLACE SINCE YOUR ORGANIZATION HASN'T RECAPUTRED THE GLORY YEARS SINCE THE DAYS OF ALLEN IVERSON AND ANDRE IGUODALA!

To wrap up this latest "Special Comment", I am so glad you finally won a game snapping the 26-game losing streak, and I'm not happy about what your organization, the Philadelphia 76ers have done this season, so what I insist YOU do is this: CAR. ABOUT. WINNING. GAMES. OR. ELSE! GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK!

Remembering the Charlotte Hornets 25 years later: The game that signaled the birth of "Hornets Hysteria"

As we continue to look back at some of the memorable moments from the Charlotte Hornets first season 25 years ago, we'll be looking back at an historical moment that changed the team, and the city of Charlotte forever 25 years ago yesterday, as "Hornets Hysteria" would be born with a game against North Carolina's native son, who would eventually be the man that would own our current NBA team and the driving force behind our city bringing the "Hornets" name back next season.

The game that marked the birth of "Hornets Hysteria"

It wasn't a typical Friday in Charlotte on that day back on December 23rd, 1988, it was just 2 days before Christmas, and thousands of people living here at that time were just busy getting their Christmas shopping done, while others were either flying in or flying out of Charlotte-Douglas International Airport to visit family and friends, and for the Charlotte Hornets, who were 6-17 at the time, they were hard at work preparing for their match-up against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in what would be Jordan's first professional game in his home state before a crowd of 23,388 at the Charlotte Coliseum and a national television audience on SuperStation TBS.

The Hornets were down 85-77 to the Bulls, who were led in scoring by Jordan, who had 33 points, but forward Tim Kempton would provide a little spark for Charlotte off the bench, as his six points would give the Hornets an 87-85 lead with 6:23 left in the game, and with time running out, everyone inside the Coliseum was hoping for a little early-Christmas present, and head coach Dick Harter would come up with a game plan, as Charlotte was tied with Chicago at 101-101 after a Jordan layup, setting the stage for a thrilling finish at "The Hive", and to simply put it, it was truly alive and well that night with just a few seconds left in regulation, as both teams, and those attending the game, watching it on television, or hearing the game on the radio, were on pins and needles as the Hornets needed just one shot to win the game or settle it in overtime, but Rambis was all in, and he wanted to go for the win.

With 26 seconds left in regulation, the Hornets would have the ball, as Robert Reid's jumper attempt was no good with time winding down, and Rambis was right on the spot to recover the loose ball and would stick it in at the buzzer, for the first last-second win in franchise history, and everyone inside the Coliseum would shout in jubilation and the team was jumping for joy, as the Hornets would get what would become one of their signature wins in their first season in Charlotte, defeating the Bulls 103-101, with Kelly Tripucka leading the way with 30 points in the victory for Charlotte. In his post-game press conference,  Harter would give the fans that were there that evening a lot of praise, quoting that "Charlotte, this is your Christmas present." and from that game on, "Hornets Hysteria" was everywhere throughout Charlotte and the Carolinas, as the game that night would make the Charlotte Hornets a household name, while the Charlotte Coliseum would be packed night in and night out for 364 consecutive games.

The way I see it, "Hornets Hysteria" was simply put, something this city needed that day, as it would be an early-Christmas present for the residents of 350,000 people living here at that time who were busy preparing for the holidays, and it was all over our city, as fans wore everything purple and teal and talked about it at work, in sports bars, and everywhere else around our city, as well as throughout North and South Carolina, as people finally took notice about the Charlotte Hornets and adopting them as their hometown NBA team during the first season, and that is something that we are looking forward to recreating next season, when the Bobcats officially change its name to the Hornets for the 2014-15 season and beyond.

"Hornets Hysteria" was indeed another great moment in the first season of the 1988-89 Charlotte Hornets, as we continue to look back at some of the moments from the team's first season 25 years ago and looking ahead to the return of the Hornets next season.

Remembering the Charlotte Hornets 25 years later: The First Win

On selected days during this Charlotte Bobcats season, we are continuing our series looking back at some of the key moments during this, the 25th Anniversary of the Charlotte Hornets first season, and in this installment, we'll be talking about the night that the Hornets would finally notch its first win as a franchise, back on Tuesday November 8, 1988.

A young team earns its first win in franchise history

After dropping the first two games of their 1988-89 inaugural season, the Charlotte Hornets were sitting at 0-2 entering that night's home game against the Los Angeles Clippers on November 8, 1988 at the Charlotte Coliseum before a crowd of 18,865, and on the day of the game, Hornets owner George Shinn was addressing the media about a possible name change for the facility, which opened less than 2 months ago back on August 11, 1988, since many of the media members were trying to figure out where in the world was Charlotte located at during the city's quest to bring an NBA team during the mid-1980's. Some thought Charlotte was located in South Carolina, while others thought it was in Virginia, or West Virginia, but we all know that Charlotte is located right here in North Carolina.  

It was during that meeting with the local media, that Shinn realized that his left arm was shaking, as Spencer Stolpen, the team's president at the time was checking on Shinn to see if he was okay when he came into the offices at 100 Hive Drive on the day of the game, as Stoplen realized that Shinn wasn't feeling good, and coincidentally, Stolpen had to take Shinn to the hospital, as he did not realize that he had suffered a mild stroke earlier in the day during his briefing about the possible name change for the Charlotte Coliseum, and for many of the fans that were making their way out to the Coliseum for the game that night, they were all indeed worried about the man who made it all happen for Charlotte to get an NBA team and transforming it into a major-league sports city.

As for the game that night against the Clippers at home, it would be played as scheduled, and it would see another first in Charlotte Hornets history, the first-ever Double-Double.  It would be recorded by Kurt Rambis, who would score 17 points on just 7-of-9 shooting from the field, to go along with 14 rebounds, while Kelly Tripucka would lead the way for Charlotte with 24 points, as the Hornets would lead by as many as 14 points in the fourth, but with 1:43 left, the Clippers would go on a run to cut the Hornet lead down to six, and during an 11-5 scoring run to wrap up the game, Robert Reid would score six points down the stretch to lift the Charlotte Hornets to its first ever victory in franchise history, with a 117-105 win over the Clippers at "The Hive", sending the 18,865 fans home happy, which was ironically the smallest crowd of the inaugural campaign for the Hornets, with it being Election Day to go along with it, and the players and coaches were indeed worried about George Shinn after he suffered a mild stroke earlier in the day, so they all got together and signed a basketball and gave it to the Hornets owner in honor of the team's first win in franchise history as they literally won it for George.

The Hornets first win on November 8th, 1988 was another special moment in the history of the Charlotte Hornets during the 1988-89 campaign, as we continue to look back at the team's memorable moments from that first season in honor of the 25th Anniversary of their debut, and looking ahead to the long-awaited return of the Hornets to Charlotte in 2014-15.

Special Comment: How will the Bobcats finish in their last year as the "Bobcats" before becoming the Hornets

And now once again, at the request of my "Boss", Jake Cook over at "The Fake ESPN", another "Special Comment" about how will the Charlotte Bobcats finish in their last year as the "Bobcats" and how will the fans will remember the "Bobcats" name 5, 10, or 20 years from now.  This season is the last year that the Charlotte Bobcats will play under the name before switching it's name to the "Charlotte Hornets", and since me and my partner, Jake have been following this team since day 1, we have seen this team have it's ups and downs.

We are already 3 games into the season, and Charlotte is 1-2, and sure, the Bobcats have already played 3 games, with the team being in action tonight in New York to take on the Knicks.  I have no particular target on how will the Bobcats finish in it's last season as the "Bobcats", but I'm going on record to say that they will finish with a 35-42 record. I am going on record and say that my prediction of finishing the season with 35 wins may be a bold statement for this team, and sure, some say we could be the sleeper team in the Eastern Conference, but 35 wins would sound good for me in my book.

If you recall last season, Mike Dunlap's plan to turn the team around was an absolute disaster, are we as fans going to sit through this again? I HOPEFULLY think not!  We went out and hired a man who has a plan to turn this thing around in Steve Clifford, and the reason why I'm saying that we will win 30 to 35 games could be a big sign of improvement, and even though that we won't make the playoffs, I believe that 35 games could be a major sign of improvement for a Bobcats team that will wrap up their 10th and final season playing as the "Bobcats".

Now, onto the second half of this "Special Comment", how will the fans remember the "Bobcats" name 5, 10, 20, or even 50 years from now.  When this team first got the name "Bobcats", a lot of us thought that was a good name to replace the name "Hornets", after the team moved to New Orleans in 2002, and in the 10 seasons that this team has played as the "Bobcats", named after former owner Bob Johnson, we have been struggling, and struggling, and struggling, but how will we remember the name in 5, 10 or 20 years from now?  If we are still alive by then, some would say that the "Bobcats" name will not be remembered by many here in Charlotte, but many of us that was hoping for the day we finally found out that we were going to be known as the "Hornets" after almost 12 years last summer, finishing off a long, fought rally cry to tell Charlotte that we want that name back right where it belongs.  And as for the "Bobcats" name, some will say "Good riddance" to that name once it become disestablished at the end of the season, but in 5, 10, 15, or 20 years from now, a lot of will still have memories of the name, while others wouldn't care less about the nickname "Bobcats".

And lastly, my "Boss", Jake, demanded me to ask you this question: Will the change from "Bobcats" to "Hornets" make the team better? YES! YES! YES! IT WILL MAKE THE TEAM BETTER BECAUSE WE ARE THE ONES THAT WANTED THE HORNETS NAME TO COME HOME IN THE FIRST PLACE, AND DO YOU WANNA KNOW WHY? IT WAS ALL BECAUSE OF THE NOSTALGIA THAT MADE THE ORIGINAL HORNETS BE ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL FRANCHISES IN THE NBA UNTIL GEORGE SHINN MOVED THE TEAM TO NEW ORLEANS ALMOST 13 YEARS AGO! IT WILL BE BETTER BECAUSE IF YOU LOOKED AT THE PROVED TRACK RECORD OVER THE LAST 10 SEASONS WE'VE BEEN KNOWN AS THE "BOBCATS", WE ONLY HAD 1 WINNING SEASON, ONE WINNING SEASON, PEOPLE! OUT OF 10 YEARS OF WHAT SOME MAY CONSIDERED A DISASTER, AND WHEN WE BECOME THE HORNETS AGAIN, WE WILL SEE FANS COME BACK TO SUPPORT THIS TEAM NIGHT IN AND NIGHT OUT JUST LIKE WHAT THE ORIGINAL HORNETS DID DURING THEIR 14 YEAR RUN IN THIS TOWN.  Good night, and Good Luck.

Remembering the Charlotte Hornets 25 years later: A night to remember

In the 7th and final installment of our series looking back at the 25th Anniversary of the Charlotte Hornets first game, we'll look back at the big day, a day that will live on in the hearts of sports fans in Charlotte, and the Carolinas.

November 4th, 1988.  A day that will live in Charlotte and Carolina sports history forever.  It was more than just a typical day in Charlotte, North Carolina, a city of 350,000 people at the time as this city was about to hit it big on what may be considered an historic day for Charlotte and the Carolinas, it was a day that NBA basketball came to town.  A culmination of 3 1/2 years of planning was all going to become a reality on this night as the Charlotte Hornets took on the Cleveland Cavaliers in their first game in franchise history.

The game wasn't just any regular game, it was more like an Hollywood premiere combined with a gala or awards ceremony, if you get the picture, as the men were all dressed up in tuxedos, while the women wore gowns, and if you were driving down Tyvola Road, you may have saw the searchlights lighting up the sky to lead you to the new Charlotte Coliseum, which was opened 3 1/2 months ago back on August 11, 1988, with the now-infamous scoreboard crash coming a day later on August 12, 1988 and yes, the red carpet was indeed rolled out to welcome the 23,388 attendees to the first game.

Even the Charlotte Symphony was there to provide the pregame entertainment.  It was a festive atmosphere as North Carolina governor Jim Martin, and South Carolina governor Carroll Campbell, both made the journey to honor the man responsible for making the dream of bringing NBA basketball to the Carolinas a reality, George Shinn.

When the pregame festivities all wrapped up, they finally got to the starting lineups, the Cleveland Cavaliers were going to be introduced first, but when the team's first Public Address announcer, John Edwards said "And now, the starting lineups for the Cleveland Cavaliers.....", the Cavaliers remained in the locker room not knowing that the pregame ceremonies all wrapped up.  The Hornets and Cavaliers were getting ready for tip-off, and everyone took out their cameras to capture the moment that would be a memorable one indeed on a night to remember.

The two bright spots that the Charlotte Hornets would have in the game that night was the first basket ever scored in Hornets history as Kelly Tripucka would snag a rebound from Cavaliers center Brad Daugherty and he would put it in the basket with 10:09 left in the opening frame to make it a 4-2 game, and the lone lead of the night for the Hornets would be a 34-32 lead in the second quarter, giving the crowd something to cheer about, in a building that was truly electric, and when I talked to Gerry Valliancourt, the former sports director at the Hornets television flagship at the time, WCCB, and currently the host of "The Gerry V Show" on 730 The Game(WZGV-AM) in 2008, he said that the crowd noise was indeed a factor.  "The noise was a factor and I couldn't hear myself during the broadcast." quoted Valliancourt.

Another of the bright spots from opening night was the public debut of the team's official mascot, Hugo the Hornet, which was created by Cheryl Henson, the daughter of famed Muppets creator Jim Henson, as he would receive rave reviews from the sellout crowd on Opening Night.

But in the end, the Cavs would spoil the inaugural game for the Charlotte Hornets, going on a 34-10 run in the second quarter, and evenutally putting it away as they would roll on to a 133-93 win, and when the game ended, the Hornets would receive a standing ovation from the crowd acknowledging their support in the first game, despite being on the losing end of the scoreboard, to cap off a very special night in history.

The next morning, Ron Green, Sr., the long-time sports writer for The Charlotte Observer, would give his own take on the Hornets first game, stating that "It was a good day, the most exciting in Charlotte sports history.  As fine a day a city like this can hope to experience."  Experience was indeed the word of that night in November of 1988, and for those of us that were here at the time, or for those that weren't around, the night that the Charlotte Hornets took the floor for the first time would always be a special moment for all of us Charlotte and Carolina sports fans alike.  And if you're wondering who led the Hornets in the loss on November 4th, 1988, it was Tripucka and Kurt Rambis that scored 16 points each for Charlotte.

Remembering the Charlotte Hornets 25 years later: Who are these guys?

Over the last 6 days, we have been chronicling the early years of the Charlotte Hornets franchise as we approach the 25th Anniversary of the team's first game. This time around, we'll talk about the most important thing a franchise needs, a head coach and some players that would make up the 1988-89 edition of the Charlotte Hornets.

Scheer begins an extensive hunt for a coach

Carl Scheer, who was hired as the first Vice President and General Manager of the Charlotte Hornets on June 25, 1987, would have a plan to look for a head coach that would roam the sidelines of the new Charlotte Coliseum for the Hornets first season, and after an extensive search, he would select Dick Harter, who was an assistant coach with the Indiana Pacers at the time, to be the very first head coach in Charlotte Hornets history on June 3, 1988.  Harter had a background as an college and NBA coach, first breaking into the head coaching capacity at Rider University for a season, before leaving there to be the coach at Penn, where he spent 5 1/2 years as their coach.  His best years came during his time at the University of Oregon, where his teams were known as the "Kamikaze Kids" from 1971 until the time he left for Penn State University as it's head coach from 1978-83.

Harter made his NBA coaching debut as an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons in 1983 and served in that capacity until the 1986 season, where he moved to Indiana to serve as a Pacers assistant coach.  The extensive background that Harter had coaching in college and in the NBA was exactly what Carl Scheer and owner George Shinn had in mind during the search.  With the coach in place, the next thing the Hornets would add on to their list of needs to make the team work, a list of players, in the expansion draft and in the 1988 NBA Draft, and for Scheer and Director of Player Personnel Gene Littles, they would hit the ground running to build that first roster to take the floor of the Charlotte Coliseum.

Who are these guys?

On June 23, 1988, the Hornets, along with the Miami Heat, led by a group headed by Broadway producer Zev Buffman and former NBA player/coach and Charlotte native Billy Cunningham, participated in the 1988 NBA Expansion Draft.  The players that the Hornets and Heat were going to get came from previous established teams in the league.  Charlotte won the coin toss, allowing Miami to select first in the expansion draft, and Miami would take Arvid Kramer from the Dallas Mavericks.  Charlotte had the next pick in the draft, and the Hornets would select the player that would have a huge impact on basketball in Charlotte, Dell Curry, who was with the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Another player that would be an integral part of the Hornets was Tyrone "Muggsy" Bogues, who was picked 6th by Charlotte.  There was a few draft day trades during the expansion draft, and the Hornets were involved in one, as they sent Mike Brown, who was picked 8th by Charlotte, to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Kelly Tripucka.

In all, the Hornets picked 11 players in the expansion draft, and in the NBA Draft, held on June 28th, 1988, Charlotte used the 8th pick in the draft to select Rex Chapman out of the University of Kentucky, to set up the roster for the expansion Charlotte Hornets to take the floor for its inaugural campaign in 1988:

1988-89 Charlotte Hornets inaugural season roster

Forwards(6):

• Kurt Rambis(Signed as a Free Agent on July 28, 1988)
• Tim Kempton(Signed as a Free Agent on August 17, 1988)
• Robert Reid(Acquired from Houston in exchange for Bernard Thompson on July 18, 1988)
• Brian Rowsom(Signed as a Free Agent on October 6, 1988)
• Tom Tolbert(Selected 34th by Charlotte in 1988 NBA Draft)
• Kelly Tripucka(Acquired by Charlotte from Utah in exchange for Mike Brown in 1988 Expansion Draft)

Guards(7):

• Muggsy Bogues(Selected in Expansion Draft)
• Rex Chapman(Drafted 8th by Charlotte in 1988 NBA Draft)
• Dell Curry(Selected in Expansion Draft)
• Rickey Green(Selected in Expansion Draft)
• Michael Holton(Selected in Expansion Draft)
• Ralph Lewis(Selected in Expansion Draft)
• Sidney Lowe

Centers(3):

• Earl Cureton(Signed as a Free Agent on July 20, 1988)
• Dave Hoppen(Selected in Expansion Draft)
• Greg Kite

The roster is set, the coaching staff has been assembled, and for the Charlotte Hornets, there was only one more thing left to do....play some basketball.  In the 7th and final chapter of this series, we will look back at the day that would live in Charlotte and Carolina sports history forever, as the Charlotte Hornets would hit the floor of the Charlotte Coliseum for the first time as a team, as Charlotte would finally make the big time at last on that Friday night in November of 1988.

Remembering the Charlotte Hornets 25 years later: The making of a mascot

In the first 4 chapters of our series looking back at the early years of the Charlotte Hornets franchise leading up to the 25th anniversary of the team's first game this upcoming Monday, we covered a lot of background of the Hornets franchise during it's infancy.  From George Shinn's intentions to bring a NBA franchise, to the day that Charlotte would join the NBA, to the team's decision to have a "Name-the-Team" contest which saw "Hornets" be the winning favorite, and we talked about Alexander Julian's involvement in designing the team's uniforms...all for some North Carolina barbecue.

In Part 5 of our series, we'll talk about the involvement of how the daughter of the "Muppets" creator, got to work on building a mascot from scratch.

The birth of "Hugo"

When the team was going to be known as the Charlotte Hornets, it was obvious that the team needed a mascot that fans of all ages can love, and they turned to the daughter of Jim Henson, the man responsible for creating the "Muppets" to come up with a mascot that would be the face of the Hornets franchise.

Cheryl Henson, the daughter of "Muppets" creator Jim Henson,
came up with the design for Hugo the Hornet.

The person that came up with the concept of the mascot was Cheryl Henson, who is the President and CEO of the Jim Henson Foundation.  Shortly after the team unveiled it's logo, designed by Jerrell Caskey of Hendrick Sportswear on November 12, 1987, which featured a teal and purple bee all decked out in sneakers dribbling a basketball, Henson wouldn't waste any time to come up with a design for the team's mascot, as the team announced that she would build the costume of the Hornets mascot on August 26, 1988.

When she finished up earning a degree in textile design, she first went to Alexander Julian to ask him for a job with his company, and he informed her that he wasn't hiring at the time he was designing the uniforms for the Hornets, and she asked Julian if she needed any help in designing the mascot.  The backstory of it was that Cheryl did a lot of work building the characters on "The Muppet Show" as a teenager.

She and Alex both agreed, and Cheryl would turn the logo into a full-bodied costume, done in of course, purple and teal, which was suggested by Julian, and she done the work on the costume by hand and she even hand-sculpted the head of the mascot, which would be known as Hugo the Hornet by the time he made his debut on November 4, 1988 during halftime of the Hornets inaugural game vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Charlotte Coliseum.  The name was suggested by over 6,000 people in the Charlotte Observer, and another backstory to the name was that the name "Hugo" was chosen one year before Hurricane Hugo struck the Carolinas on September 22nd, 1989, as there was talk about changing the mascot's name, but a Hornets spokesman at the time said that Hugo the Hornet will continue to be the name.

In Part 6 of our series, we'll talk about the core of every NBA team, a head coach, and players, and on Monday, we'll commemorate the anniversary with a look back at some of the hoopla from November 4th, 1988, when the Charlotte Hornets took to the floor of the Charlotte Coliseum for the first time.