The swing has resembled, on a much more aggressive scale, the rebuild in Charlotte since 2023. That summer, Michael Jordan sold control of the Hornets to a group led by Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin.
The Hornets under Jordan ran a thrifty shop. Several of the lead front-office executives were Jordan family members or friends. When the new owners took over, with Schnall as governor, they looked to modernize the organization.
The Hornets have hired more than 60 new people since Schnall and Plotkin took over. The team now has a nutritionist and an expanded sports performance department. They are building a new practice facility and headquarters (the Hornets currently practice on just one court, while most NBA teams have multiple). The Spectrum Center, their home arena, finished a $245 million renovation last fall. Schnall, who had been an Atlanta Hawks minority owner, has taken a hands-on approach, and while some NBA owners are distant, he takes the floor for full-court pickup runs with others in the organization.
“Charlotte has been waiting for this market to explode, and this ownership group is really committed not only to the consumer experience and the fans, but also to the players and making sure that we have things, resources, that we need to perform at the highest level,” said forward Grant Williams, who grew up in the area. “And I think that, in years past, Mike did a phenomenal job of trying to compete, but compete a different way, versus now, the money is behind it.’
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