Charlotte will no longer be Bobcats as the NBA basketball team is changing its name to the Charlotte Hornets. According to Sports Illustrated,the name change was made official and a new website appeared announcing the change and included the tagline: “From the heart of our history comes the fierce soul of our future.â€
“Today we complete a task that has never been accomplished before, bringing a name back to its original market,†says Hornets CEO Fred Whitfield. “Our fans are the driving force behind the name [change]. All the data and research indicated that they wanted the name back, badly. It’s a name that provokes a tremendous amount of pride. The Hornets name has been a part of our community for over 200 years.â€
The original Hornets joined the NBA in 1988 as an expansion franchise and spent 14 seasons in Charlotte before moving to New Orleans by former owner George Shinn in 2002. Shinn opted to keep the Hornets moniker but sold the team to the NBA in 2010.