The Five Stages of Grief as a Charlotte Hornets fan

Stage 2: Anger

The Charlotte Hornets lose their next four games in convincing fashion.

There's no denying it: those next four games were a tough spot in the schedule. A Sunday matinee in Madison Square Garden kicked off a week where the Hornets faced the New York Knicks (twice), the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Miami Heat. Nobody expected Charlotte to steamroll through this week with four straight wins, but one or two would've been nice. At the bare minimum, the Hornets needed to stay competitive.

That didn't happen. Charlotte dropped all four of these games, three of them by double digits. Rotational players were in and out of the lineup, there was zero chemistry or consistency, and the Hornets continued to struggle on the defensive side of the ball.

Questions surrounding the team turned quickly into irritation. Why can't the Hornets compete with upper-tier Eastern Conference teams? How do opponents consistently score 120 points? Why is the injury report the length of a CVS receipt? Will this eternal cycle of mediocrity ever end?!

Enter the second stage of grief: anger. Hornets fans realized their denial could no longer continue. This year's team has clear, undeniable issues that jeopardize their ability to compete for a play-in spot. Injuries, defense, coaching...they all lead to one conclusion: the Charlotte Hornets are staring down the barrel of another bottom-three finish in the Eastern Conference.