Charlotte Bobcats

Charlotte Bobcats
Conference	Eastern Conference
Division	Southeast Division
Founded	2004 2004
History	Charlotte Bobcats (2004- present )
Arena	Time Warner Cable Arena
City	Charlotte, North Carolina
Team colors	Orange, White
Owner	Michael Jordan
General manger	Rod Higgins
Head coach	Paul Silas
D-League affiliate	Maine Red Claws
Championships	none
Conference titles	0
Division titles	0
Official Website	bobcats.com

The Charlotte Bobcats are a professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The team is part of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association. The Bobcats were established in 2004 as an expansion team, two seasons after Charlotte's previous NBA team, the Charlotte Hornets, relocated to New Orleans, Louisiana and became the New Orleans Hornets. The Bobcats play their home games at Time Warner Cable Arena in uptown Charlotte.
Charlotte's NBA Development League team is the Sioux Falls Skyforce (the affiliation is shared with the Minnesota Timberwolves). The Bobcats were also the brother team of the Charlotte Sting of the WNBA before the Sting folded on January 3, 2007.
The NBA granted Charlotte an expansion franchise in 2003. The franchise narrowed the choice for the team’s nickname to three finalists. The Bobcats, Dragons, and Flight are chosen out of approximately 1,250 suggestions submitted to the team and the Charlotte Regional Sports Commission. During the summer of 2003, at a street festival that attracted an overflow crowd of 7,000 fans, the Charlotte NBA expansion franchise unveils Bobcats as the team nickname.

Franchise history

Creating a new team

When the Charlotte Hornets relocated to New Orleans, Louisiana for the 2002–03 season, the NBA promised Charlotte leaders that the city would be granted an NBA expansion team for the 2004–05 season. Several ownership groups, including one led by former Boston Celtics star Larry Bird, made bids for the team. In the end, a group led by Black Entertainment Television founder Robert L. Johnson was awarded the franchise. Johnson is one of the first prominent African American owners in U.S. professional sports. On June 15, 2006 it was announced that NBA legend and North Carolina native Michael Jordan would become the second largest shareholder in the Bobcats. As part of the deal, Jordan became head of basketball operations. Another notable co-owner is the rapper Nelly.
In June 2003, the new team was named the Bobcats. Bobcats, along with Charlotte Flight and Charlotte Dragons were the top three choices as voted by fans. The Charlotte Regional Sports Commission aided with the "Help Name The Team" effort that drew over 1,250 suggestions. The bobcat, an expert at survival according to the North Carolina Wildlife Commission, is athletic, fierce and an indigenous predator to the Carolinas. Charlotte, already being home to the National Football League's Carolina Panthers, made the cat-related name a natural choice for the area's new professional basketball team.
One of the ironies in the formation of the franchise was the fact that despite failed attempts at the ballot box to fully fund a new arena downtown, city politicians decided to go ahead with plans and implemented a hotel and leisure tax in Charlotte to help pay for it. George Shinn, owner of the Hornets, also wanted the city of Charlotte to pay for a new arena, and subsequently left town for New Orleans when the city failed to do so.

2004–2006: Early years

The Bobcats held their expansion draft on Tuesday, June 22, 2004, picking up such seasoned players as Predrag Drobnjak and talented youngsters such as Sacramento Kings forward Gerald Wallace. However, Drobnjak would never play for the team; the Bobcats traded Drobnjak to the Atlanta Hawks for a 2005 second round draft pick. They also traded with the Los Angeles Clippers to acquire the second pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, which they used to select Emeka Okafor, a center from the University of Connecticut and Mike Claxton. Okafor went on to win the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2005.
Their first game was a 103–96 loss to the Washington Wizards on November 4, 2004. They won their first game in franchise history over the Orlando Magic 111–100 on November 6. After losing their next seven games, the Bobcats stunned the defending champion Detroit Pistons 91–89. On December 14, the Bobcats really gave their fans something to roar about, beating the New Orleans Hornets 94–93 in overtime in the team's first trip to Charlotte after the move. The Bobcats would go on to post an 18–64 record finishing in 4th place in their division. After the regular season, they finished with the best record in one of the NBA's summer leagues, the Reebok Rocky Mountain Revue in Salt Lake City. In the 2005 NBA Draft, the Bobcats drafted two North Carolina players: guard Raymond Felton and forward Sean May. With these two players, in addition to Okafor, the Bobcats hoped to build a young, solid foundation for future success. The Bobcats selected Adam Morrison from Gonzaga University with the third pick in the 2006 NBA Draft. After an injury to part-time starting point guard Brevin Knight that would sideline him for at least a month, the Bobcats traded Bernard Robinson to the New Jersey Nets for point guard Jeff McInnis and cash considerations on January 3, 2007.
On March 13, 2007, part-owner Michael Jordan announced that Bobcats head coach Bernie Bickerstaff would not return to coach the 2007–08 season. Jordan stated that Bickerstaff would finish the rest of the current season and that he remained an integral part of the organization. Candidates interviewing for the head coaching position included Stan Van Gundy, Paul Silas, Herb Williams, and Mike Fratello. On May 25, 2007 the Bobcats announced that Sam Vincent, a former assistant with the Dallas Mavericks, would be the second coach in franchise history.

2007: Sam Vincent and the Bobcats

The front office has been a key issue for the Bobcats during the 2007 offseason. Rod Higgins was hired on May 31, 2007 as general manager, assuming the same role he had with the Golden State Warriors. Although Higgins has the title of general manager, Jordan retains full control over basketball operations.
Phil Ford and Lee Rose were tapped to join Vincent's coaching staff on June 6, 2007. Buzz Peterson was hired from Coastal Carolina University, where he served as head basketball coach, to become director of player personnel on June 13, 2007. Brandan Wright was selected with the eighth pick by the Bobcats in the 2007 NBA Draft. He was subsequently traded to Golden State for swingman Jason Richardson and power forward Jermareo Davidson. Shortly after the Richardson trade, the Bobcats resigned Gerald Wallace to a reported six-year, $57 million contract. Wallace was the team's leading scorer for the 2006–2007 season, and has been with the team since the 2004 expansion draft. The Bobcats waived team veteran Brevin Knight who was formerly the starting point guard but lost the job to Raymond Felton. Since assuming the starting point guard role, Felton has led the team in assists. On December 14, 2007, the Bobcats acquired center Nazr Mohammed from the Detroit Pistons for Wálter Herrmann and Primož Brezec. January 31, 2008 saw guard Earl Boykins, the shortest player in the NBA, sign with Charlotte, as the Bobcats looked to bolster their depth at the point guard position. Only lasting a year, Sam Vincent was fired as head coach on April 26, 2008 after a disappointing season that saw the Bobcats finish with a 32–50 record.

2008–present: The Larry Brown Era

On April 29, 2008 it was reported that the Bobcats have reached an agreement to hire Larry Brown as the third head coach in franchise history.
The 2008 NBA Draft saw the Bobcats select University of Texas Point Guard D. J. Augustin with the 9th selection of the first round, French Center Alexis Ajinca with the 20th pick (which had been acquired prior to the Draft from the Denver Nuggets in exchange for a lottery protected future first round pick), and Washington State University combination Guard Kyle Weaver.
On July 31, 2008, it was reported that the Bobcats had reached an agreement with the teams first ever draft pick, Center Emeka Okafor on a 6 year, 72 million dollar contract extension. On December 10, 2008, Bobcats guard Jason Richardson was traded to the Phoenix Suns along with Jared Dudley and a 2010 second round pick for Boris Diaw,Raja Bell and Sean Singletary. On January 16, 2009, Bobcats guard Matt Carroll and center Ryan Hollins were traded to the Dallas Mavericks for center DeSagana Diop. On February 7, 2009, Bobcats forward Adam Morrison and guard Shannon Brown were traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for forward Vladimir Radmanović.

Year-by-year standings

Season	Record
2004-05	18-64
2005-06	26-56
2006-07	33-49
2007-08	32-50
2008-09	35-47

Franchise Arenas

Arena	Years
Charlotte Coliseum	(2004-2005)
Charlotte Bobcats Arena	(2005-present)

Franchise Personnel

Robert Johnson - Majority Owner
Michael Jordan - Managing Member of Basketball Operations
Fred Whitfield - President and Chief Operating Officer
Greg Economou - Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer
Jared Bartie - Chief Administrative Officer & General Counsel
Rod Higgins - General Manager
Sam Vincent - Head Coach
Gary Brokaw - Director of Player Personnel
Dell Curry - Assistant Coach
Jeff Capel - Assistant Coach
Gary Kloppenburg - Assistant Coach
John Outlaw - Assistant Coach
Ken Williamson - Director of Scouting

sumber : http://hoopedia.nba.com