Recently, my friend was describing to me how much fun he has cheering on his favorite NBA team. With every sentence about “the feeling of satisfaction for sticking with them and seeing them succeed”, I got more confused. Was he pranking me? Is NBA fandom supposed to be “fun”? Because after seventeen years of rooting for the Charlotte Hornets/Bobcats, I sit here today, shocked that “fun” was ever an option.
Charlotte Hornets: Rebuilding from a fan’s perspective
Sure, some faux-excitement can be manufactured in even the bleakest of situations, if you ask me. I think back to how much energy I spent telling my friends in middle school that Byron Mullens “has potential” or that Noah Vonleh was “too gifted to fail” or that Jeffrey Taylor “just needs to put it all together”. Though deep in my soul, I knew none of that was true… Well, I actually did kind of believe in Jeffrey Taylor.
But all of those beliefs were merely coping mechanisms to help me move through the 5 Stages of Grief About The Hornets Future, eventually “accepting” that things weren’t looking particularly rosy. Like, ever. There were a lot of bleak futures for the Hornets/Bobcats. And when those futures inevitably arrived? Oh yeah baby, bleak as can be. I mean, Cory Higgins was on the team for two seasons, which in retrospect was just overt nepotism, right? Pretty dire.
However, the other day I was staring into the void and thinking about Chris Douglas-Roberts, and was struck with an epiphany… That feeling of despair is gone. And this full-scale rebuild, which began with the loss of Kemba Walker, is working… Really well! (We still love you, Kemba. Good luck in NY.)
So in my inaugural column for Swarm and Sting, I want to examine how the Hornets have rebuilt up to this point, and propose that we, as Hornets fans, should… Just enjoy the experience of watching a young and energized team, and be happy that we have things to look forward to. Because we have seldom been presented with that option. Yes, I’m taking my friend’s advice and suggesting that we try to have some… *gulp* fun this season!