Charlotte Bobcats

Established in 2004 as an expansion team, the Charlotte Bobcats are a professional basketball team which represents Charlotte, North Carolina. Currently, the team is part of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the NBA and plays their home games at Time Warner Cable Arena in uptown Charlotte.

When the Charlotte Hornets moved to New Orleans for the 2002–03 season, the NBA promised Charlotte to grant an NBA expansion team for the 2004–05 season. A group led by Black Entertainment Television founder Robert L. Johnson was awarded the Charlotte’s new franchise. Johnson is known as being amongst the prominent African American owners in U.S. professional sports. Later in 2006, NBA legend and North Carolina native Michael Jordan became the second largest shareholder in the franchise.

Charlotte, a home to the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, made the cat-related name a natural choice for the area’s new basketball team. The team was named the ‘Bobcats’ in 2003. Along with Charlotte Flight and Charlotte Dragons, the franchise was among top three choices as voted by fans.

On June 22, 2004, the Bobcats held their expansion draft and picked up several seasoned players. Those included Predrag Drobnjak and Sacramento Kings forward Gerald Wallace. However, Drobnjak never played for the team; later traded to the Atlanta Hawks for a 2005 second round draft pick. The team also traded with the Los Angeles Clippers to acquire the second pick in the 2004 NBA Draft. They selected Emeka Okafor, a center from the University of Connecticut. Okafor would go on to win the NBA Rookie of the Year award in 2005.

The bobcats’ first game was a 103–96 loss to the Washington Wizards on November 4, 2004. The club won their first game over the Orlando Magic 111–100 on November 6. After losing seven games in a row, they stunned the defending champion Detroit Pistons 91–89. Not before December 14, the Bobcats gave their fans something to roar about, beating the New Orleans Hornets 94–93. The team went on to post an 18–64 record concluding in 4th place in their division.

The Charlotte Bobcats made some important trades in the years that followed and managed to get some very accomplished players. They finished with the best record in one of the NBA's summer leagues held in Salt Lake City. However, due to many front office changes, the team couldn’t perform better in the next seasons and its progress remained somehow stagnant. The Bobcats finished 5th in 2005-06 by winning 26 and loosing 56 games. The following season saw some improvement as they won 33 games and lost 49. In 2007, they finished 4th with 32-50 score.

The Charlotte Bobcats boost of some of the greatest players. The team is a fine blend of experienced players and young blood. Many of the Bobcats have been awarded for their good performance. Emeka Okafor was named Rookie of the Year in 2005. He became NBA All-Rookie First Team. The NBA All-Rookie Second Team was given to Raymond Felton in 2006 while Walter Herrmann and Adam Morrison got the honor in 2007.

The Bobcats reached a naming rights deal early this year with Time Warner Cable, the Charlotte area's largest cable television provider. In exchange for the naming rights, Time Warner agreed to tear up the cable television deal that had limited the Bobcats' exposure over the team's first four years when their games was shown on Carolinas Sports Entertainment Television (C-SET), that is available to that viewers only who have digital cable service. Their radio media partner is a Charlotte-based oldies station whose frequency is 106.1 FM.

Currently, Bobcats are aiming at the sky under the leadership of General Manager Bernie Bickerstaff and Head Coach Larry Brown. They are on the rise and promise to entertain, excite and amaze their supporters in upcoming seasons. The Charlotte Bobcats promise more fun and excitement in their upcoming games. Watch out for them as they are ready to fight and win.