Ranking the former Hornets players inducted into the Hall of Fame

1. Alonzo Mourning (inducted in 2014)

The Charlotte Hornets may have failed to come out on top of the 1992 NBA Draft Lottery to secure the opportunity to draft Shaquille O'Neal. However, they still were fortunate enough to grab the No. 2 spot despite being eighth in the pre-lottery position.

As a result, the Hornets bagged a worthy consolation prize in Alonzo Mourning.

It didn't take long for the former Georgetown University standout to make his mark in the league, averaging 21.0 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks per game in his rookie campaign. If it weren't for O'Neal being his draft classmate, he would have won Rookie of the Year.

Charlotte appeared to have a franchise cornerstone at a critical position. Unfortunately, when it was time for the star center to negotiate a new contract with the organization, they couldn't come to terms, resulting in Mourning being traded to the Miami Heat in 1995 so that the Hornets wouldn't lose him for nothing. As such, he concluded his three-year run with the squad that drafted him with averages of 21.3 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 3.2 blocks per contest.

It remains one of the biggest what-ifs in the Hornets' history, and it's unclear whose fault it was that the seven-time All-Star didn't continue his Hall of Fame career in Charlotte. Mourning has insisted that he was willing to take a lower salary to stay, but then-owner George Shinn recalled the conversations went differently, saying that the big man wanted to play in a bigger market.

Whatever the case may be, Mourning is still mentioned as one of the greatest players to suit up for the Hornets and may very well be the all-time best center to wear the Purple and Teal.