For years, the Charlotte Hornets cycled through a revolving door at center — patchwork stopgaps, undersized placeholders, and promising prospects who never fully stuck. But four games into the 2025–26 season, that narrative has flipped. The Hornets suddenly have two legitimate answers in the middle, and both are playing too well to ignore.
Moussa Diabate and Ryan Kalkbrenner have each delivered early-season performances that would earn starting nods on several rebuilding teams. For Charlotte, that creates something rare: an actual positional battle that’s energizing the locker room, challenging rotations, and, maybe most importantly, pushing both players toward their ceilings.