Since entering the NBA back in 1988 as an expansion team, the Charlotte Hornets have zero championships and Finals appearances in franchise history.
All-Star point guard Kemba Walker is the best player in Hornets franchise history, but he never won a playoff series with Charlotte and signed with the Boston Celtics in free agency last summer. The Hornets acquired Terry Rozier from the Celtics in the Walker sign-and-trade deal.
When glossing over the Hornets' history, which includes the franchise being the Charlotte Bobcats from 2004-2014, there's one team that stands out from the rest and that's the 1997-98 Hornets club.
This Charlotte team was coached by Dave Cowens. The leading scorer was All-Star Glen Rice, who averaged 22.3 points per game while shooting 45.7 percent from the field and 43.3 percent from beyond the arc. The veteran forward was then supported by a committee of five double-digit scorers led by Anthony Mason's 12.8 points per game (averaging a double-double with his team-leading 10.2 rebounds), David Wesley, Vlade Divac, Matt Geiger, and the late Bobby Phills.
The '97-98 Hornets began the season 13-7. They caught fire in March, going on a season-high nine-game winning streak with the playoffs right around the corner. Charlotte was a top-15 team on both sides of the ball. The Hornets averaged 96.6 points a night, which was good for 10th in the NBA. Defensively, Charlotte was giving up 94.6 points per game, 14th in the league.
The Hornets finished the regular season with a record of 51-31. They were set to be the fourth seed in the 1998 playoffs. Charlotte's first-round matchup was against the Atlanta Hawks, who were led by Steve Smith and Mookie Blaylock.
At this time, the first round was a best of five series. The Hornets had home-court advantage and took care of business in Games 1 and 2. Rice had a monster game in Game 1 with 34 points while Mason led Charlotte in Game 2 with 25 markers.
Game 3 was in Atlanta and boy did the Hawks respond well to the change of scenery.
The Hawks destroyed the Hornets in Game 3 by a final count of 96-64. The Hornets clearly left their games back in Charlotte, but the team still had an opportunity to close out the series in Game 4.
Whatever Cowens told his group between Games 3 and 4 worked. The Hornets weren't messing around in Game 4 and won 91-82 to eliminate the Hawks and advance to the second round. Mason poured in 29 points and Rice was superb again with 26.
Next up for the Hornets was none other than Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Charlotte was the big underdog in this series since it was going up against the G.O.A.T. and arguably the best dynasty ever.
Game 1 went to the Bulls behind 35 points from Jordan. However, what happened in Game 2 wasn't predicted by anyone. The Hornets won to steal home-court advantage. Charlotte somehow held the Bulls to only 76 points and won by a final score of 78-76.
However, waking up a sleeping giant like Jordan and the Bulls by defeating them is sometimes the wrong thing to do. MJ and the Bulls rebounded from their Game 2 loss by winning three games in a row to end the series and the Hornets' dream season.
It's going to be a while before Charlotte goes on a deep playoff run again. They are in the middle of a rebuild project right now in the post-Walker era.
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