NBA Players Pick Charlotte Hornets as League’s Worst Team
In a private poll by The Athletic, NBA players overwhelmingly picked the Charlotte Hornets as the league’s bottom team. Out of 113 players surveyed, 38.1% pointed to Charlotte. The stats…
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In a private poll by The Athletic, NBA players overwhelmingly picked the Charlotte Hornets as the league's bottom team. Out of 113 players surveyed, 38.1% pointed to Charlotte.
The stats tell a grim tale. With just 19 wins against 63 losses in 2024-25, the team stumbled through its third straight poor showing. They haven't seen playoff action in nine years, the NBA's current longest drought.
"You don't really know. You could be a losing program but still be a great organization," said one anonymous player to Sports Illustrated.
Other struggling teams trailed in the voting. The Washington Wizards pulled 20.4%, while New Orleans got 11.5%. The Kings rounded out the bottom with 8.8%.
The troubles run deep. Players blasted the team's home crowd support: 15.2% ranked Hornets fans as the NBA's least enthusiastic.
The task of fixing this mess falls to Jeff Peterson, who stepped in as basketball operations president last year. This shift came after Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin bought the team from Michael Jordan in 2023.
Players didn't spare new coach Charles Lee either. He picked up six votes for worst coach, though he wasn't at the very bottom of that list. The team fell 16 wins short of predictions.
Not all news is bad. LaMelo Ball lit up scoreboards with 30.4 points per game. Rookie Brandon Miller showed flashes of brilliance, including a 38-point outburst against Detroit.
Hope might come through the draft lottery on May 12. With a 14% chance at the top pick, Charlotte could snag standout prospect Cooper Flagg.
The stats sting: Charlotte shares with New Orleans the dubious mark of never reaching a conference final. Their last taste of playoff basketball ended in a crushing seven-game defeat to Miami back in 2016.
