The Charlotte Hornets are back. The NBA on Thursday unanimously approved the Charlotte Bobcats' request to change its team name to the Charlotte Hornets, the Associated Press reports.
"Back Buzz City," the team website hailed its moniker change. The original Hornets played in Charlotte from its inception in 1988 until 2002, when the franchise moved to New Orleans. Under new ownership, New Orleans relinquished its Hornets name in April 2013 and became the New Orleans Pelicans.
Charlotte fans wanted the Hornets name back. With the moniker available, Bobcats owner Michael Jordan announced the following month that his team submitted a name-change application to the NBA. After the league's Board of Governors approved it on Thursday, Charlotte once again became Hornets basketball.
"We're thrilled to bring back the Hornets to Charlotte and the Carolinas," Jordan said in a statement issued by the team. "The passion and enthusiasm around this name change by fans in this market has been unmatched. They overwhelmingly told us what they wanted, we listened and we couldn't be happier with the Board of Governors' approval of the name change.
"With the young team we are developing on the court, the direction of our business and the return of the Hornets name, we are extremely excited about our future. The buzz is back!"
NBA commissioner David Stern believed the name change was good for the club and its fans.
"(The Hornets name) stayed there, bubbling below the surface, and there is something to it," Stern said. "I think that the team is going to receive support from fans who think that this is a step in the direction that the fans have been asking for, and this is an attempt to both satisfy the fans and its accompanied by a kind of very specific market research that allows the Hornets to say, yes, this is what the market is asking for and they're very much serving their market by making this change."
The return to turquoise, white and purple could be just the renaissance Charlotte basketball needs. Since the Bobcats franchise began in 2004, the club has made the playoffs only once.
Charlotte finished with a 21-61 record last season, but with a young roster headlined by guard Kemba Walker, the club hopes to return soon to the postseason.
The name change will go into effect after the 2013-14 season. Season-ticket holders celebrated the name change downtown at a party attended by former Hornets Muggsy Bogues, Rex Chapman, Dell Curry and Kendall Gill.
