CHARLOTTE WELCOMES THE CATS CHARLOTTE’S DOWNTOWN ARCHITECTURE HAS REFLECTED ITS PERIODS OF PROSPERITY IN BUSINESS CHARLOTTE WELCOMES THE CATS 8
The first white settlers arrived in the area of Charlotte North Carolina in 1755 and 13 years later named their community after the English King George III’s wife In the early 1800s Charlotte became the site of the new American nation’s first significant discovery of gold North Carolina led the nation in production of the precious metal until the California Gold Rush of 1848 Today gold of another sort banking is one of Charlotte’s key industries and the city trails only New York City as the United States most important banking hub As a state North Carolina is second to none in its enthusiasm for basketball Especially noteworthy are two of the country’s premier college basketball programs the Duke University Blue Devils and the University of North Carolina Tar Heels So it isn’t surprising that the National BREVIN KNIGHT 9
GUARD BREVIN KNIGHT USED VETERAN EXPERIENCE TO HIS ADVANTAGE WITH THE NEW BOBCATS Basketball Association NBA announced on December 18 2002 that Charlotte had been awarded a franchise The new team wasn’t the city’s first foray into the NBA For 14 years beginning in 1988 the city was home to the Charlotte Hornets That team had a natural nickname When British general Lord Charles Cornwallis occupied Charlotte then little more than a village during the Revolutionary War stiff resistance from the local population caused him to label it a hornet’s nest an image that is often used as the city’s unofficial emblem In May 2002 though the Hornets moved to New Orleans Louisiana Hornets owners George Shinn and Ray Wooldridge claimed that dwindling attendance and playing in the outdated Charlotte Coliseum made it impossible for the franchise to compete financially with the league’s other teams Despite the move the NBA knew that Charlotte was still a great basketball city So just months after the Hornets departed the league granted the city an expansion 10
Robert Johnson Robert Johnson was a billionaire but he started out far from wealthy The 9th of 10 children Johnson grew up in Freeport Illinois and worked hard at academics studying history at the University of Illinois and getting a master’s degree in international affairs at Princeton University The Bobcats owner made his fortune by founding Black Entertainment Television BET a television network that focuses on the entertainment needs of African American viewers Johnson turned his initial BET investment of 15,000 in 1979 into a 3-billion fortune over the span of 20 years When he was awarded the Charlotte franchise in early 2003 he made history by becoming the first African American owner of a major professional sports franchise If you look at his background in terms of businesses he’s in and has been in it fits like a glove said Jerry Colangelo Phoenix Suns owner and head of the expansion committee The fact that he’s an African American was a plus In addition to the Bobcats Johnson owned the Charlotte Sting franchise of the Women’s NBA WNBA until the team folded in 2007 INTRODUCING TEAM OWNER BOBCATS SEASONS 2004 10 Robert Johnson 11
