Last postseason, the Charlotte Hornets were on the verge of eliminating the Miami Heat en route to an East Semis appearance, until they lost a heartbreaker to the Heat in Game 7.
Regardless, it was such a joy seeing how this team fared in their previous campaign with Kemba Walker leading the way after averaging a career-best 20.9 points per game. That’s the basketball part.
However, the NBA’s business aspect got in the way and, as a result, a couple of major pieces from last year will now be donning different colors. Walker wasn’t happy about this and he shared with Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer his thoughts on the free agent losses.
Article Continues Below“It sucks.”
“But that's the business: You're always going to play with some new guys every year. You think about Big Al, who I wish we could have kept. He helped change this franchise around big time from the day he got here.”
Jeremy Lin was Walker’s main backup, and they even played at the same time during stretches. However, this summer saw Lin pack his bags for the Brooklyn Nets.
Here’s what the Hornets’ leading scorer had to say:
“I hate to see him go, but at the same time I’m definitely happy for him. He deserves to be a starter in this league. He’s such a great player and he proved that last season. There were games where I was off and he carried the team.”
Roy Hibbert is now with the team, and the backup point guard chores now belong to Ramon Sessions. But it’s not the end of the world for the Hornets.
For what it’s worth, they can take consolation in the fact that other teams had it way worse than them this free agency period. Just ask Russell Westbrook.