Charlotte Hornets

The Charlotte Hornets first buzzed into the NBA in 1988 as an expansion franchise, instantly giving North Carolina a major-league basketball team. The name “Hornets” wasn’t just catchy — it carried deep historical meaning. During the American Revolutionary War, British General Cornwallis marched into Charlotte in 1780 expecting an easy occupation. Instead, he met fierce resistance from local militias who launched hit-and-run attacks and harassed his troops at every turn. Frustrated, Cornwallis supposedly called Charlotte “a hornet’s nest of rebellion.” The phrase became a badge of honour, and the city has proudly embraced the “Hornet’s Nest” identity ever since.

That reputation was earned in a hard season of war. On 26 September 1780, militia under William R. Davie staged a stubborn defence at the courthouse in Charlotte, slowing the British column and signalling that the town would not be taken quietly. Over the following weeks, small bands of Carolinian partisans sniped at pickets, ambushed foraging parties and made life miserable for redcoats and Loyalists alike. The countryside around Charlotte was thick with patriots who knew the roads and pine woods far better than the occupiers. Cornwallis’s supply lines were never secure and his attempts to hold the town brought more trouble than control.

Charlotte also sat near some of the key turning points of the Southern campaign. Only days after the British arrived in the area, patriot riflemen crushed a Loyalist force at Kings Mountain on 7 October 1780, a blow that rocked British plans in the backcountry. A few months later, Daniel Morgan’s victory at Cowpens on 17 January 1781 shifted momentum further. By spring, with Nathanael Greene’s army pressing and the countryside still hostile, British forces found little comfort in Charlotte. The “hornets” had lived up to their name.

Charlotte itself traces its roots to the colonial period. Founded in 1768, it was named after Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of King George III. Its position at the crossroads of two Native American trading paths made it an important settlement for merchants and farmers. The defiance shown during the Revolution reflected that independence early on — local leaders had already issued the Mecklenburg Resolves in May 1775, signalling a willingness to rule themselves. Charlotte became known as a place where locals would stand their ground, a tradition the Hornets’ name continues to symbolise.

By the 19th century, Charlotte played a part in America’s first gold rush, with mines working in and around the town decades before California’s boom. In the 20th century, the city shifted to banking and commerce, eventually becoming the second-largest financial centre in the United States after New York. That blend of frontier rebellion, Southern grit and economic ambition shaped the Hornets’ identity — local pride buzzing on a national stage.

The Hornets’ badge and colours made them one of the most distinctive franchises in sport. Their purple-and-teal scheme, designed in the late 1980s, stood out in a league filled with more traditional palettes. The hornet logo — fierce, winged and armed with a stinger — became iconic in 1990s culture, turning up on snapbacks, shirts and streetwear far beyond North Carolina. Few NBA brands spread into pop culture as quickly as the Hornets’.

On the court, the original Hornets had stars like Larry Johnson, Alonzo Mourning and Muggsy Bogues, who made the team both competitive and beloved in the 1990s. But in 2002, the franchise controversially relocated to New Orleans, leaving Charlotte without its team. Two years later, the NBA awarded Charlotte a new franchise, the Bobcats, but the name never quite landed. In 2014, after New Orleans rebranded as the Pelicans, Charlotte reclaimed its historic identity and became the Hornets once more. The buzz was back.

Charlotte also sits at the heart of NASCAR and motorsport. The nearby Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord and the NASCAR Hall of Fame downtown show how deeply the sport is tied to the region. Many of the most famous teams and drivers are based in the Charlotte area, making the city a true racing capital. Together, NASCAR and the Hornets define the city’s sporting landscape: fast, passionate and fiercely loyal.

Today, the Hornets continue to represent Charlotte with pride. Under the ownership of Michael Jordan from 2010 until 2023, the team carried the stamp of basketball’s greatest player, himself a North Carolina native. Though still chasing their first championship, the Hornets remain a cultural symbol: a franchise with colours, history and an identity as fierce as the hornets’ nest that gave the city its name.

The Charlotte Hornets are more than a basketball team. They are Cornwallis’s “hornet’s nest”, Queen Charlotte’s colonial town, NASCAR speed and uptown banking towers, and the teal-and-purple that defined 1990s style. Their badge is a hornet — wings sharp, stinger ready — a reminder that in Charlotte, pride always swarms.