Hornets Fans Furious Stephanie Ready Was Demoted From Booth Back to Sideline Reporter

In 2015, Stephanie Ready was hired by as a full-time game analyst for the Hornets. She became the first woman to do so in the NBA. Two years later, the Hornets have demoted Ready to a sideline reporter to the dismay and anger of many fans.

Ready starred at Coppin State and has covered the franchise since 2004. As a fan favorite, she was promoted to the analyst booth alongside Dell Curry and Eric Collins. Together, they formed the first ever three person booth on a local NBA broadcast.

Fox Sports Southeast senior vice president Jeff Genthner offered the following explanation to the Charlotte Observer:

Fox Sports Southeast senior vice president Jeff Genthner said moving Ready to courtside is an effort to overcome the television location being off the floor (at the top of the lower bowl on the bench side of Spectrum Center).

“It’s really tough for television” to not be courtside, Genthner said in an interview with the Observer. “There’s no one leaning over the bench to say, ‘How bad is that injury?’ ”

It’s a viable explanation but not a very good one. The network could have simply hired a sideline reporter as opposed to moving Ready back to the floor.

Nevertheless, a legion of angry Hornets fans have launched a Twitter campaign aimed at returning Ready to her rightful place in the analyst booth. The campaign is flourishing under the hashtag, #DontSidelineSteph.

Flip through for the tweets.

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