Listen to our Charlotte Hornets preview podcast here.
The Hornets followed up their fun 2015-16 season with an utterly frustrating 2016-17. How do they get back on track? We brought on SBNation.com's James Dator and At the Hive's Nicklaus Denning to talk about the following:
- What the heck happened last year? The Hornets seemed to be cruising toward another playoff berth and then the bottom fell out. Why?
- Can Kemba Walker please get a little more love?
- Help us figure out Nicolas Batum, because we can't.
- Dwight Howard on the team, huh? Is this something Hornets fans are excited about? Will Steve Clifford get the most out of him?
- Is this the year Michael Kidd-Gilchrist becomes more than an interesting role player, or is this just who he is?
- Who else on the team can be expected to make a leap this year? Is Malik Monk ready? Jeremy Lamb? Someone else?
Plus, some talk about the importance of the "Hornets" name, some Bobcats nostalgia you probably didn't ask for, your favorite banana boat question, and much more.
This podcast was part of the Limited Upside podcast’s 2017-18 offseason series previewing all 30 NBA teams with members of SB Nation’s team communities and other friends of the show. We’ve spent the last two-and-a-half months gauging the temperature of every fan base heading into what should be a terrific NBA season. There’s no better way to understand what makes NBA fans in each market tick.
We began these in August and counted down worst-to-first leading up to the season. Here’s how to listen to them all:
- Nets with Kristian Winfield and Nets Daily’s Anthony Puccio
- Lakers with Zito Madu and Silver Screen and Roll’s Anthony Irwin and Harrison Faigen
- Suns with Bright Side of the Sun’s Dave King and Evan Sidery
- 76ers with Tyler Tynes and Liberty Ballers’ Kyle Neubeck
- Knicks with Kristian Winfield and Posting and Toasting’s Seth Rosenthal
- Magic with Orlando Pinstriped Post’s Zach Oliver and Cory Hutson
- Kings with Kenny Carraway and Sactown Royalty’s Tony Xypteras
- Mavs with Tim Cato and Mavs Moneyball’s Kirk Henderson
- Wolves with Canis Hooups’ Eric Goldman and John Meyer
- Pelicans with The Bird Writes’ Oleh Kosel and Travis Tate
- Hornets with James Dator and At the Hive’s Nicklaus Denning
- Pistons with John Ketchum, Kofie Yeboah and Detroit Bad Boys’ Lazarus Jackson
- Nuggets with Denver Stiffs’ Adam Mares
- Heat with Kelly Cohen and Hot Hot Hoops’ Surya Fernandez
- Bulls with Ricky O’Donnell and Blog a Bull’s Jason Patt
- Pacers with Whitney Medworth and Indy Cornrows’ Caitlin Cooper
- Blazers with Blazers Edge’s Brian Freeman and Peter Sampson
- Bucks with Kevin McCauley and Brew Hoop’s Mitchell Maurer
- Hawks with Harry Lyles Jr. and Peachtree Hoops’ Brad Rowland
- Grizzlies with Grizzly Bear Blues’ Joe Mullinax
- Thunder with Eddie Maisonet and Welcome to Loud City’s Joshua Broom
- Thunder addendum! Carmelo Anthony trade emergency pod with Eddie Maisonet
- Wizards with Sports Illustrated’s Andrew Sharp and Bullets Forever’s Michael Sykes
- Jazz with SLC Dunk’s Mychal Lowman and James Hansen.
- Raptors with Raptors HQ’s Daniel Reynolds and freelance writer Seerat Sohi
- Cavaliers with Fear the Sword’s Chris Manning and MMA Fighting’s Eric Jackman
- Clippers with Clips Nation’s Lucas Hann and former L.A. video coordinator Mo Dakhil
- Celtics with Paul Flannery and Celtics Blog’s Nick Gelso
- Rockets with The Dream Shake’s Ethan Rothstein and Jeremy Brener
- Spurs with Pounding the Rock’s J.R. Wilco and Bruno Passos
- Warriors with Golden State of Mind’s Bram Kincheloe