Charlotte's Sports Dark Age

Charlotte is long overdue for a solid professional sports team that competes in one of the big four leagues (NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB). With no MLB or NHL team in the City, all Charlotteans have are the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte Hornets. 

The Carolina Panthers owner has given zero reason for the Charlotte Fanbase to have hope for the franchise, and with his recent actions to business owners criticizing him as an owner coming to light, Carolina Panthers fans are in a very dark place. It's one thing to win only two games in a season and have a decent owner and front office that gives you hope; it is another to win two games and have an incompetent owner who seemingly feels the need to have his hands in every decision that is made to the roster and coaching staff despite not knowing a thing about football. 

The Panthers haven't been close to making the playoffs the last six seasons and have failed to produce a winning season in that timeframe. In the 2022 season, Carolina finished 2nd in the NFC South but has struggled to finish third. 

Jerry Richardson did the right thing by selling the team because of the allegations he faced in 2017. Though there are few details on what happened, he knew these allegations would be a bad look for the franchise and decided it was time for new ownership. The team was then sold to David Tepper, who at the time was a minority owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers (my conspiracy theorist mind wants to say the Steelers fabricated the Panthers' downfall and are using Tepper as the face of it). 

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David Tepper is an abomination to Charlotte athletics, and I feel for my friends who are Panthers fans. I understand that my Bears fleeced you, but if not us, somebody else would have, so please do not be mad at us for that deal; be angry at your owner. He has put you all in a situation that will be hard to recover from in the next few years. I give the Panthers another 5-7 seasons before we see any substantial success. 

The Charlotte Hornets are a completely different conversation. They may even be a worse team than the Panthers for a few reasons. First, the Hornets are in a longer playoff drought than the Panthers. The last time the Hornets sniffed the postseason was back in 2016, but they lost to the Miami Heat in the first round. 

It has been since 2002 that a Charlotte basketball team won a series. The Carolina Panthers have made it to two Super Bowls; the Hornets left for New Orleans, the Bobcats were founded and rebranded to the Hornets, and both teams have been bought and sold, all since the last time the Hornets, or should I say a Charlotte Basketball Team, has won a playoff series. 

The team we have now is not the same organization as it was in the '90s. The original Charlotte Hornets now reside in New Orleans. So, in their 20 seasons of existence, the organization now in Charlotte has never won a playoff series. For reference, the longest an NBA team has gone without winning a playoff series is 29 seasons. This record is held by the Clippers, who didn't win a playoff series from 1977 to 2006. Currently, the Hornets and the Kings share the longest active drought. 

The Hornets have a huge decision to make this offseason: naming a new coach to lead this team with enough talent to bring the City its first playoff win in over two decades. Steve Clifford should've never been hired to lead this team for longer than one season, and the Hornets are throwing away talents like Lamelo Ball and Brandon Miller by keeping him on board for this last season. At the very least, the Hornets have given Charlotte Sports Fans some hope. 

Even other Charlotte-based teams, such as the Knights (AAA Baseball), Charlotte FC (MLS), and Checkers (AHL), have losing records (The Checkers are only 1-2, but for conversation's sake, I'm leaving this detail here). 

Charlotte can be a great sports town. Those of us who were around in 2016 when Cam Newton and the Panthers made their Super Bowl run know how much successful sports teams can unite the entire City. Sadly, there has been such a lack of success coming out of Charlotte. We are living in the Dark Age of Charlotte Professional Sports. ​