Those poor Charlotte Bobcats fans. After suffering through 7 years of bad basketball under the helm of a hapless management team, most recently led by the G.O.A.T himself, owner Michael Jordan, the unthinkable happened. The 2012 version of the Bobcats finished with the league’s worst record(7-59), setting the all time mark for futility based on winning percentage.
But in NBA circles and with the new salary cap, the old adage that you first must become bad, in fact real bad, in order to have a chance to rebuild behind a top draft choice or two, usually holds true. Case in point, the 76ers in 1996 with Allen Iverson, the Cavaliers drafting Lebron James in 2003, and the Thunder getting lucky enough to grab Kevin Durant at #2 in the 2007 Draft.
The common theme here is that all of the aforementioned teams got lucky in the draft and rode their new face of the franchise all the way to an eventual NBA Final appearance. While currently it’s hard to associate luck and the NBA Finals with the Bobcats organization, considering they have only one winning season and Playoff appearance in franchise history, good things are coming. Aren’t they?
Despite finishing with the league’s worst record, the New Orleans Hornets came out of nowhere to have the honor of nabbing the #1 pick in this year’s draft, missing out on the unanimous NCAA POY Anthony Davis, and an immediate chance to fast track their team’s success behind the college ranks’ most dynamic player. Even though MJ may have had thoughts of confronting Commisioner Stern for possibly rigging the Draft, the Bobcats got a great fall-back option…the #2 pick in this year’s Draft Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
While Gilchrist may not have been at the top of every fans’ wish list in the Charlotte area, he exudes character, determination, and best of all, a winning attitude, an attribute sorely lacking on the current Bobcats roster. MKG will not be a 20 ppg scorer but already has the ability to lock down the opposing team’s best player, will lead the team in hustle stats, and had games at Kentucky last season where he, not Anthony Davis, was the reason for another Wildcats victory.
At only 19 years of age, MKG has won at every level of basketball, and works harder than any player in this year’s draft, meaning if there is something that many perceive he cannot do well, he will put countless hours and effort into making sure he becomes great, a la his new boss Michael once did as a player.
It will be a long and arduous task at rebuilding for Charlotte, but please be patient. Adding MKG to a very young roster featuring former NCAA star Kemba Walker, shot blocker Bismack Biyombo, and the recently acquired proven scorer Ben Gordon from Detroit could have Charlotte threatening to reach double digits in wins next season. There’s only one way to go……up.
So why not put out an early season trailer featuring a vicious bobcat, players like MKG, Kemba, and Hendo (Gerald Henderson) set to Kanye West’s aptly titled hit “Mercy” that sums up last season?
Check out an early ’12-’13 Bobcats season trailer:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen has also provided content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, Cleveland.com, CSN Philly.com, Buckets Magazine, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
