Charlotte Hornets
This has been an atrocious offseason for the Charlotte Hornets. First, former team governor and NBA legend Michael Jordan finally sold his part of the organization, handing the franchise keys over to a group led by Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin.
Jordan may be arguably the greatest player to have ever graced an NBA court, but his resume as an executive has to be among the worst. During his days as a team governor, his Charlotte Hornets accumulated a record of 423-600, the fourth-worst mark during that time in the entire league.
As such, the announcement of the sale was mostly met with delight, as Jordan has built a reputation for being a slightly overbearing boss who has evidently held his rosters back with his influence. Before finalizing the sale, though, His Airness had plenty of time to ruin Charlotte in one final offseason.
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He started off the summer by making one of the most scrutinized draft decisions this year: passing on Scoot Henderson in favor of former Alabama Crimson Tide forward Brandon Miller. Not only did the consensus of draft experts have Scoot ahead of Miller in terms of talent and potential, Henderson was clearly the safer pick for off-court reasons as well.
Miller was recently put on trial for his involvement in a fatal shooting episode. During the investigations, it was proven that Miller transported the murder weapon to the scene.
While his innocence was neither proven nor disproven, it certainly wasn’t a good look for Charlotte to select him over a generational prospect with zero character red flags like Scoot Henderson — one that most analysts had ranked higher as a pure basketball talent.
Miles Bridges Stats:
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20.2 | 7.0 | 3.8 | 49.1 |
But drafting Miller wasn’t even the Hornets most scrutinized move of the offseason. The franchise was ruthlessly criticized for its decision to retain Miles Bridges, who had plead no contest to a domestic violence charge earlier in the year. This choice was met with immediate and relentless backlash and rightfully so.
Later on, a report came out detailing the fact that Bridges had violated his parole by attacking a vehicle the mother of his children and his ex was in while with their kids. One of the conditions for his indictment was that he remain at least 100 feet from his victim for the next 10 years.
Charlotte Hornets Preseason game:
- Total: o227.5 -110 Celtics vs Hornets u227.5 + 110
- Money Line: -265 Celtics vs Hornets +215
- Location / Date & Time: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, NC, Oct 19th, 7:00 PM ET
It’s yet to be known whether or not the Hornets knew of this before the report came out, as they’ve failed to make a definitive statement. Regardless, Charlotte’s initial decision to retain him at all is an egregious stain on their reputation and each day they continue any sort of contact with him only further damages their image. It’s high time they cut all ties with him, basketball ramifications be damned.
It can be a new era in Charlotte; one that should not include Miles Bridges.
James Dator of SB Nation states he can no longer support the Charlotte Hornets after their decision to employ Miles Bridges
“On June 28, 2022, Miles Bridges made a choice. During an argument, the Hornets forward wrapped his hands around the throat of his ex and strangled her to… pic.twitter.com/wcWWYjn0Kn
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 17, 2023
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| Title: The Charlotte Hornets cannot ignore Miles Bridges any longer
| Author: Andy Quach
| Date: October 19th, 2023