Buzz City Beat is Swarm and Sting’s one stop for the best articles from around the internet surrounding the Charlotte Hornets.
On a recent podcast, Bill Simmons said that the Queen City should lose the Charlotte Hornets. One Redditor pointed this out. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at the major role Michael Jordan played in making changes to the NBA All-Star Game, Michael Carter-Williams returning to full-contact practice and some French fans celebrating Nicolas Batum‘s elbow injury.
Hornets’ owner helped change All-Star Game (BleacherReport.com)
"The third driver of change was none other than Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan, who flexed his muscle because, well, he’s Michael Jordan, but also because he’s the chairman of the league’s labor relations committee. “Michael was heavily involved,” said one of the people familiar with the meetings."
The problems with the NBA All-Star Game have been well talked about over the past few years. With the help of Michael Jordan and Chris Paul, commissioner Adam Silver changed the rules for the 2017-18 ASG in an attempt to bring more interest and excitement to the game. MJ has begun to play a more important role in league discussions.
The All-Star Game will no longer feature East vs West. There will still be 12 players from each conference but the leading vote-getter on each side will be a captain and get to select their team from the rest of the all-star’s regardless of conference affiliation. It will be interesting to see how, if at all, this affects Kemba Walker‘s all-star bid this year.
Carter-Williams goes through full-contact drills (CBSSports.com)
"Carter-Williams (knee) took part in full-contact drills at Friday’s practice, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer reports."
Although he is back to full-contact practice, there is still no return date for Michael. There is still a chance that he could miss not only the rest of the preseason but some of the regular season as well. Charlotte will be hoping that he can continue to progress and be ready for opening night on October 18th.
In August, MCW underwent a platelet-rich Plasma procedure on the patella tendon in both knees. It’s almost been two months since the treatment took place. Carter-Williams has already missed valuable practices during training camp and exhibition games in preseason but the good news is that the rehab process is moving forward.
Nic Batum says some French fans celebrated his injury (ESPN.com)
"“I know [some] people in France are happy about it; that’s the sad part,” Batum said. “Really, for real. I got on stuff and people are happy, like I deserve it. … Trust me, I get those reactions on social media.”"
Next: How the Hornets will move on without Nic Batum
This is the ugly side of sports. It’s bad enough that Nicolas suffered a serious injury that will keep him sidelined for months but then he has to deal with trolls on social media. It was his decision to skip playing with the French National Team this summer and he was not obligated to play with them. He’s played with France every summer since 2009. Hopefully, there were more messages of support for Batum than those of negativity.