Hornets catch stray in comment from NBA superstar
The Charlotte Hornets found themselves in the headlines, but not in a way they would have preferred. Boston Celtics superstar Jayston Tatum made a comment at a youth basketball camp that found the Hornets being on the receiving end a less than complimentary comment.
Things did not start as disrespectful towards Charlotte as Tatum first commented on what is clearly the concept of load management. Nobody likes load management, even with its practical uses. More often than not, it leaves fans dissatisfied, and that is not a situation any team wants to find themselves in — making their fanbase upset.
"I only get to go to Charlotte two times a year. Somebody paid their money to come watch me play. I’m not trying to be arrogant, but there’s a bunch of kids in there with my shoes and my jersey."
The following quote is what found the Hornets in the crosshairs. Tatum was adding to his previous comment but found a way to take a shot at Charlotte in the process.
"And just because we’re playing Charlotte on NBA League Pass on a Monday and ain’t nobody f***ing watching, I don’t say ‘yeah, I’m chilling tonight’. That’s not what the best players do."
Jayson Tatum is not a fan of load management and for all the right reasons pic.twitter.com/7JSALg7YA8
— Cameron Tabatabaie (@CTabatabaie) July 25, 2023
Have the Hornets been on the opposite end of the competitive spectrum for much longer than anyone would like? Sure, but at the same time, Tatum’s point could have been illustrated in a similar manner while not taking a shot at a specific franchise. The Celtics star seemed to go out of his way to make the Hornets the target of his commentary.
There is only one way for the Hornets to avoid situations like this in the future, win. Charlotte is working on getting out of the basement of the Eastern Conference and finding a way toward relevancy. The franchise believes that they are on the right path to work their way back to postseason play. All they have to do is prove it on the court, and suddenly comments like this will no longer come their way.
