Last week the New Orleans Hornets were the butt of a lot of jokes when they announced that they would be changing their name to the New Orleans Pelicans. I’m still scratching my head at that one…
Yesterday former owner of the Charlotte and New Orleans Hornets, George Shinn, spoke to the Charlotte Observer about bringing the name back to Charlotte, and offered his assistance to current Bobcats owner Michael Jordan.
“If Michael sees fit, I’d like to help,” Shinn says. “It was never my name, It belonged to Charlotte. I think they should use the colors, the mascot, all of that.”
“The name will bring fans back,”
Shinn says that if the Charlotte Bobcats want the name back, he would do anything he could to help. Saying he wouldn’t just call current owner, Tom Benson (a good friend of his) he’d go to him and David Stern as an advocate for the change.
I fondly remember the glory days of the Charlotte Hornets and players like Muggsy Bogues, Dell Curry, Kendall Gill, Alonzo Mourning, and Grand-Ma-Ma himself…Larry Johnson. I remember the excitement of a crowd that was known as one of the rowdiest in the league. I remember a city that seemed to come together to support their team.
Charlotte can be that again, and if a name change helps then I’d love to see the Hornets return to Charlotte again.